New work from HYG Artists

After a great opening of our current show Denise Marika: Effaced 1, we're pushing on into 2011 with a lot of new work coming into the gallery by HYG artists. 

Paul Shakespear, Tangent #5, 2010

Currently up in the back room of the gallery (along with Conversations, a short video by Denise Marika) is a new work by Paul Shakespear, Tangent #5. Like his earlier work Tangent #5 is acrylic on canvas, and is 53'' x 60''. A native of Buenos Ares, Shakespear has been showing his work with the gallery for many years. Consistently working with acrylic on canvas, Shakespear's abstract paintings are beautiful and expansive, and deeply contemplative. 

Emily Eveleth, Untitled Fragment, 2010

Coming off a solo show at the Smith College Museum of Art and participation in a show a the Concord Art Association, Emily Eveleth has recently brought us a new piece, of a donut fragment. Resembling a mountainous landscape, Eveleth's new piece is a fantastic example of her painterly brushwork and sumptuous imagery. 

Howard Johnson, Lollie, 2010

Taking his work in a new direction, artist Howard Johnson recently dropped off several new paintings done in oil and other materials on panel, a departure from his earlier works on paper. While Johnson continues with his signature zany imagery, his new paintings present more vibrant colors and texture, presenting an interesting departure from previous work. Check out our website for more images of new works by Johnson. 




Nazraeli Press based in Oregon has just released Flora, a book of photographs by British photographer Neeta Madahar, with a forward by Allan Doyle.  HYG had a show of Madahar's Flora series in June of 2010. There was a review of the show on ArtSlope; read it here. 


Check out our Twitter and Facebook pages for other updates on Howard Yezerski Gallery artists and come see Denise Marika's show Effaced 1, at the gallery through February 8th. 

Denise Marika: Effaced 1

Opening this Friday, January 7 - February 8, 2011


Denise Marika: Effaced 1

Effaced 1 2010

1: to wipe out; do away with; expunge

2: to rub out, erase, or obliterate (outlines, traces, inscriptions)

Single channel Video

duration = 00:19:41

Effaced 1  is the first in a four part series which hopes to give voice to issues surrounding migration, development and the humanitarian aid crisis in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. Initial research for Effaced involved gathering voices from news stories and led Marika to shift out of a studio based practice in order to interview witnesses and survivors and to live in their communities.  In Conversations, her new collaboration with composer John Holland, Marika places herself in the flow of events. The video predominantly shot in Cambodia reflects upon the labor,fragility, humor and pain of the human condition and it's history. 

Through actions familiar and volatile Marika’s art confronts our passivity as voyeurs and awakens our responsibility as witnesses and participants. It is difficult to fully comprehend the cumulative impact of voices silenced each day due to urban, domestic, and political violence. The struggle for human rights and threat to freedom of speech continue to be at the center of conflicts around the world.  Effaced 1 gathers first person narratives and abstract projected imagery to position the viewer as an engaged witness to this struggle.

Effaced 1 uses video, sound, and photo installation to shape a landscape in which concrete actions, sociopolitical issues and abstract elements are exchanged and layered. The performed gestures in the current video installation explore the act and metaphor of erasure, searching and drowning as it relates to body, voice and text. The editing is primarily sound driven and consequently the sequencing of images is shaped by the dynamics of rhythm and pitch. The performed gestures and stills are contrasted by the abstract and fluid overlay of audio, visuals, and text.

“My work operates through a tight personal focus on detail, gesture and circumstance and looks at how we respond to violence, conflict and loss, Effaced 1, positions the viewer as an intimate witness and participant to these events exploring how memory and cultural history are shaped by our actions and experiences.”

­

Conversations  2010

Denise Marika, video and John Holland, music

duration = 7:24

Initial research for Effaced involved gathering voices from news stories and led Marika to shift out of a studio based practice in order to interview witnesses and survivors and to live in their communities. In Conversations, her new collaboration with composer John Holland, Marika places herself in the flow of events. The fully developed video project hopes to give voice to issues surrounding migration, development and the humanitarian aid crisis in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. The video predominantly shot in Cambodia reflects upon the labor, fragility, humor and pain of the human condition and it’s history. 

Each track in Conversations is separated into short musical/video segments, naturally bounded by silences and darkness. The segments are recombined independently of one another, and separated by varied durations of silence and darkness. This musical composition is an electronic choral work, founded on the tradition of the unaccompanied motet. It consists of recorded segments from throat-singers of Asia and Canada, throat patients 'speaking' through implanted electronic larynx devices, digital and processed human voices, and voices of animals.                                                                                     

ARTIST BIO

Video installation artist, Denise Marika, has an MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles and is represented by the Howard Yezerski Gallery in Boston.  She has exhibited across the US and internationally, including solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, MASS MoCA, Axiom Center for New and Experimental Media, Worcester Art Museum, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and a retrospective at the Pomona College Museum of Art. Works in permanent collections include the Rose Art Museum, the DeCordova Museum and the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation.  She has received grants from the NEA and LEF Foundation among others, and is an associate professor at the Massachusetts College of Art Studio for Interrelated Media. Marika is currently on leave and has a Fullbright to work and travel in Southeast Asia based in Cambodia and Nepal.

HYG 2010 Recap

It's been a big year at Howard Yezerski Gallery. We've had ten very successful shows, showcasing work by 16 artists. We started off the year with two photography shows, first Gary Schneider: Drawn from Life and after, a group show, Boston Combat Zone 1968-1979 featuring Roswell Angier, Jerry Berndt and John Goodman. Schneider went on to a solo show at the Reykjavik Museum in Iceland. The Boston Combat Zone show gained a huge amount of press from Boston Magazine, the Boston Herald, the Boston Courant, WBUR Radio and WBZ TV News. This week the exhibit was named by the Boston Phoenix as one of the Top 10 Exhibits of 2010.

Emily Eveleth, Hands with 8 Ball, 2010 oil on board

These two photo shows were followed by two painting shows. The first, a show of new work by abstract painter Paul Shakespear called Black/White. The second was a show called Better Not Tell You Now, which showcased non-donut works on paper and mylar by Emily Eveleth (two in oil on panel and canvas respectively).


We moved into Spring with a show of new work by British photographer Neeta Madahar: Flora. Moving in a new direction from her earlier series', the photographs in Flora are personalized portraits of friends of the artist, and are a collaborative effort on the part of the subject and Madahar.

Installation View: Powell/Tellin

Our summer exhibit was a group show called Between Form and Color: John Powell and James Tellin. It combined the lighting sculptures of John Powell with the landscape tables of Jim Tellin in a bright, colorful, seasonal show that was reviewed by Cate McQuaid in the Boston Globe.


After a brief vacation we opened the fall season with Yana Payusova: Kunstkamera. This was Payusova's first solo show with the gallery, which consisted of 16 paintings showing scenes of memories from Payusova's childhood, growing up in Soviet Russia.


Following Payusova was a show of abstract painting by three artists: Rudolf de Crignis, Winston Roeth and Ulrich Wellmann. All three are internationally recognized for their work in abstraction and monochrome. Their work brought a colorful dynamism to the gallery that was paired nicely with the back room show of Brian Zink's new work in plexiglass.

Chris Killip, Helen with her hoola hoop

The last show of the year is Chris Killip: 4 & 20 photographs, a show of 24 photographs by the British born, high school educated, Harvard professor who has never before had a solo show in the US. This show was given a two page spread in the Boston Globe in a review by Mark Feeny, which reproduced 5 photographs from the show. To bring some holiday cheer to the gallery, we hung a back room show of work by Susan Jane Belton called Coffee To Go which features 23 of her iconic coffee cup paintings as well as two of her drawings on mylar.


An impressive list of shows to add to the repertoire of a 25 year history of the gallery in Boston. The biggest change this year was saying good bye, after seven years, to gallery director Alexis Dunfee, who left some big shoes to fill. Other changes have been our introduction into the social media world of Twitter, as well as beginning this blog to keep HYG enthusiasts up to date on what's going on with the gallery and its artists. All in all it was a great year for the gallery! We look forward to seeing you in 2011!

HYG News

Now that everyone has returned from Paris Photo and Art Miami, we've had lots of visitors in telling us about how the fairs went. For the most part reports haven't been outstanding, which is probably to be expected given the economy. December's first Friday two weeks ago had an impressive showing of people, which only testifies to the fact that many people chose to forego their annual trip to Miami this year.

Here in Boston we've been trudging along through the wind and cold, warming up each day when we come into the gallery and see Coffee To Go: Coffee Cups by Susan Jane Belton.  Sebastian Smee had a blog entry on the Boston Globe website about the show. Also still on view until after the new year are Chris Killip's 24 photographs depicting Northern coastal England between 1974-1988; this show got a two page spread in the Globe with the article by Mark Feeny--they printed 5 images from the show!

We've also been excited to learn about the goings on of our artists outside of Boston. Six iconic photographs by John Coplans are in a show that opened Monday at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach. Virginia Beahan's photography course was featured in Dartmouth's alumni magazine. Also, Rhona Bitner was interviewed for "Exit" Magazine's Nov/Dec issue--Exit is a Spanish language art magazine and the interview is published in both Spanish and English.

The gallery will be closing on December 24 and will reopen January 4th. We will be open by appointment only. Please email hy@howardyezerskigallery.com if you would like to come in over the holidays.

Susan Jane Belton: Coffee To Go - New Paintings

Opening November 26 and on view until December 24, Susan Jane Belton: Coffee To Go. Opening Reception next Friday, December 3rd from 6 - 8pm. 

           

Bringing in the holiday season, Howard Yezerski Gallery presents Coffee To Go, a show of new paintings by Susan Jane Belton. Belton continues to work on her signature series of logo-emblazoned take out coffee cups. Putting a contemporary spin on the traditional still life, Belton's coffee cups comment on the ritual of drinking coffee, and the corporatism and consumerism connected with that ritual. 

Painting the cups on various backgrounds and from different perspectives, Belton's coffee cups come alive, each cup communicating its own character and personality to the viewer. By displaying the cups in a grid, we are able to see the interactions between their individual traits, and investigate the role of advertising and  branding in our everyday lives. By using an object as universal and accessible as the coffee cup, Belton is able to convey a unique perspective on contemporary society. 

Susan Jane Belton has a studio in Boston's South End and teaches at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Her work has been shown throughout New England, New York, and California and is in the collections of institutions like the DeCordova Museum, the Boston Public Library and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

HYG News

This week's blog entry is devoted to sharing news about what's currently going on with Howard Yezerski Gallery artists. Currently on view at the Gallery is a show of 24 photographs by important British photographer, Chris Killip. We are also looking forward to opening a "back-room" show of Susan Jane Belton's coffee cup paintings: Coffee To Go. The show will go up on November 26th, and the opening will be Friday December 3rd from 6 - 8pm. 


Tonight, Tuesday November 16th at 7pm, sculptor Rona Pondick will be giving a lecture at the School of Visual Arts at 209 East 23rd Street in the 3rd floor amphitheater in New York. Pondick's work was last seen at Howard Yezerski Gallery in September of 2009. Read a review of the show here.

Dawoud Bey's show of his "Harlem, USA" series at the Studio Museum in Harlem opened last Thursday, November 11th and will be on view until January 2, 2011. Bey's work has is also currently on view at the Harn Museum in Gainesville, FL. Both "Class Pictures" and "First Year Florida" Project are on view. This upcoming Sunday, November 14th at 3pm Dawoud Bey will be giving a lecture at the Harn about the exhibition and the residency that he completed at the University of Florida.


The annual photography fair "Paris Photo" is taking place this week, from Thursday the 18th through Sunday the 21st. In conjunction with that important fair, photographer Gary Schneider is in Paris for several events. On November 18th he will be holding a book signing of HandBook at 3pm at the Aperture Foundation Booth #A36. From the 18th to the 20th at Gallerie Francoise Paviot (57 Rude Sainte-Anne) Schneider will be making handprint portraits, by appointment, in conjunction with the show of his work currently on view there. 


Work by Elaine Spatz-Rabinowitz is included in the current exhibit Place as Idea at the Worcester Museum of Art. Place as Idea explores the idea of place as a "vehicle for visualizing time, displacement, memory, and fantasy in works by an international roster of contemporary artists." The exhibition is on view until February 13, 2011. 


The photo series Les Femmes du Maroc by Lalla Essaydi is on view at the Bates College Museum of Art in Lewiston, ME until December 18. These timely and beautiful pieces are worth the trip up north.


Catherine Kehoe was interviewed last week by The Jerusalem Studio School.  The lengthy and informative interview can be found here. 


Susan Jane Belton's work was featured in the December issue of American Art Collector. Click here to read the interview (p.46) with Seth Berkowitz, a collector of Belton's work. 

Chris Killip: 4 & 20 Photographs Opening Friday November 12th 6- 8 pm

Couple eating fish & chips, Whitley Bay, Tyneside, 1976

Chris Killip

4 & 20 Photographs

Howard Yezerski Gallery proudly presents the work of Chris Killip, one of the most influential photographers to have come from Great Britain. 4 & 20 Photographs will be Killip’s first one-man exhibition in the USA.

Click here to read the fantastic review of this show from November 30th's Boston Globe by Mark Feeny. 

Killip’s work is widely praised as the most acute depiction of the human cost to Britain’s process of de-industrialization. The twenty-four images in this exhibition, from 1974-88, are primarily from the North of England and cover the tenure of four very different Prime Ministers: Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, Jim Callaghan and Margaret Thatcher.

“The term ‘poetic document’ to describe Killip’s work has perhaps never been more apt, for as Ian Jeffry has written, Killip would seem to be no programmed sociologist, nor even much of a social observer. ‘He is, rather, suggests Jeffry, a storyteller, concerned primarily with the fabric of things, of life lodged in matter. However his sense of one is completed only by a sense of the other. “ (Gerry Badger, The Photobook, Vol 2)

Chris Killip was born in 1946 on the Isle of Man. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Henri Cartier Bresson Award, and his work is featured in the collections of major institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The author of five books, including the highly acclaimed In Flagrante, 1988, which was reproduced by Errata Editions in their series on the photo-book in 2009. He is a Professor of Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard University where he has taught since 1991.

In 2012 Killip will have a retrospective exhibition of his work curated by Ute Eskildsen at the Folkwang Museum in Essen. Many of the images that will be included in the retrospective, as well as in this exhibition, have never been exhibited or published before.

The blog Prospero, on the website for the Economist magazine, had a review of Killip's work on November 10th. The entry stresses the iconic scenes portrayed in his photographs of industrial Britain in the 1970s and 1980s. Click here to read the review. 

Father and son watching a parade,
West-end of Newcastle, Tyneside, 1980

4 & 20 Photographs was previously showing at Amador Gallery in New York before coming to Howard Yezerski Gallery next week. Killip was mentioned in The New Yorker Magazine Gallery Notes in their October 18, 2010 Issue:

"It's hard to believe that this great British photographer is only now having his first solo exhibition in the U.S. Like Bill Brandt and Martin Parr, Killip casts a sharp, unsentimental eye on his fellow-citizens and their environment. The photographs here, made mostly in England's bleak northern cities between 1974 and 1988, when more and more people were out of work, are among his toughest and most affecting. Never operatic, Killip is a master of ordinary despair: amid a flurry of windblown trash, a man in an overcoat stands facing a brick wall chalked with a tiny bit of graffiti proclaiming "true love."