‘Ozspirations’ at NESAD, Icons + Altars in Newton, Glenn Ligon at Harvard, Donald Kuspit at Simmons
By RANDI HOPKINS | November 6, 2007
F. Lennox Campello, How Dorothy Killed the
Witch |
Those utterly disturbing flying monkeys, the little ruby-slippered feet sticking out from under the farmhouse, the freaky talking apple trees . . . innumerable iconic images have lodged themselves in our collective conscious thanks to the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz. The themes drawn from L. Frank Baum’s series of books about the Land of Oz (originated in 1900) have been seen as newly resonant — how to find the heart, the courage, and the intelligence to confront the demons of a world in turmoil. With that in mind, interim New England School of Art & Design (NESAD) gallery director James Manning and NESAD design faculty member Jennifer Fuchel have organized the juried exhibition “OZSPIRATIONS: NEW ART INSPIRED BY THE WIZARD OF OZ,” which opens at NESAD on November 11. The more than 30 artists in “Ozspirations” interpret Baum’s novels in work that ranges from the literal to the metaphorical. Lisa Costanzo’s There Is No Place like Home is a tongue-in-cheek poster of Oz-induced color swatches. (Paint your kitchen “Glowing Glinda” pink? Or maybe “Twister Grey”?) F. Lennox Campello’s How Dorothy Killed the Witch is a slyly colored ink drawing of Dorothy’s murderous wash-bucket moment with the Wicked Witch of the West.
| “Ozspirations” at New England School of Art & Design, 75 Arlington St [second floor], Boston | November 11–December 23 | 617.573.8785 | “Icons + Altars” at New Art Center, 61 Washington Park, Newtonville | November 16–December 16 | 617.964.3424 | “A Conversation with Glenn Ligon” at Arthur M. Sackler Museum, 485 Broadway, Cambridge | November 13 at 6 pm | 617.495.9400 | Donald Kuspit speaking at Simmons College, Linda K. Paresky Center, 300 the Fenway, Boston | November 14 at 7 pm | 617.521.2268 |
Opening at the New Art Center on November 16, the 14th annual “ICONS + ALTARS” holiday benefit exhibition offers a wide array of art by well-known as well as emerging regional artists — 98 this year! — who’ve crafted works that grow out of the artists’ personal, cultural, social, or spiritual sense of an “icon” or an “altar.” Participating artists include Gerry Bergstein, Stephanie Chubbuck, Todd McKie, and Julie Levesque. The exhibition is free, and all works are for sale through a ticketed drawing process; tickets are $225 each, and the proceeds benefit this lively, non-profit art institution.Notable speakers take the lectern at two of our esteemed local educational institutions this month. On November 13, at 6 pm, Harvard’s Sackler Museum hosts “A CONVERSATION WITH GLENN LIGON,” to mark the occasion of the Fogg’s recent acquisition of two of his works. Ligon is known for his investigations of race, sexuality, history, and national identity through a multitude of media; his fine way with language is apparent in his work and should make for a good talk. And on November 14, at 7 pm, art critic DONALD KUSPIT comes to Simmons College to talk about issues in contemporary art related to a series of exhibitions on view this fall in Simmons’ Trustman Gallery called “Spinning Straw into Gold: The Ethics of Production.”
On the Web
New England School of Art & Design: www.suffolkedu/nesad/gallery
New Art Center: www.newartcenter.org
Arthur M. Sackler Museum: www.artmuseums.harvard.edu
Simmons College: www.simmons.edu/trustman
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