5 Upcoming Artist Talks in New England

One of the unique features of contemporary art is that the creators can discuss their emotions, intentions, and process, often revealing wonderful details that allow us to understand the artwork on a deeper level. It is also a great opportunity to meet an artist whose work you admire!

Check out these 5 artist talks happening across New England between February and April:

1. Olafur Eliasson – February 26, 6:00–8:00 pm at MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA
Eliasson is an Icelandic-Danish artist who uses elemental materials to create large-scale sculptural and installation works that explore contemporary social and environmental issues.
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Sheila Pepe: Hot Mess Formalism. Image courtesy of deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum.

2. Sheila Pepe – February 28, 6:30–7:30 pm at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA
Pepe is a fiber artist who creates playful large-scale sculptural and installation pieces using traditional female craft mediums to examine patriarchal roles and methods of art creation.
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3. Andrew Fish – March 2, 12:00–2:00 pm at Childs Gallery, Boston, MA
Blending traditional media and contemporary motifs, Fish explores the transient nature of technology-based images and human memory in the digital age.
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Andrew Fish, Bride on the Bridge, 2018, Oil on linen, 54 x 54 in. Image courtesy of Childs Gallery.

4. Guerrilla Girls – April 3, 5:00–6:00 pm at Brown University, Providence, RI
The Guerrilla Girls is a group of feminist artist-activists who use their work to expose gender and ethnic discrimination in contemporary art, politics, and pop culture.
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5. Trenton Doyle Hancock – April 10, 6:30–9:30 pm at MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA
Hancock is a mixed media artist who uses comic-book style and pop culture illustrations to flesh out characters that inhabit his world and mythological creations (and a fun fact: Abigail Ogilvy attended Art League Houston’s 2017 Gala where he won Award for Texas Artist of the Year!).
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Trenton Doyle Hancock, Becoming the Toymaker, Phase 14 of 41, or Common Phenomenon or Simply Commomenon, 2017, Acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 16 x 16 x 1 in. Image courtesy of Mass MoCa.

Small Business Spotlight: DoubWorks

Custom stretcher bars built in Joshua Doub's workshop. Photo courtesy of DoubWorks Instagram

At Abigail Ogilvy Gallery, we like to consider the quality of the work our artists are producing in a holistic manner. Our artists place heavy importance of each detail that goes into creating their work, from the caliber of the paint to the stretcher bars that support the canvas. Stretchers are the foundation of a painting: their quality dictates its longevity and durability. For this reason, we were thrilled when we learned about DoubWorks a few years back.

DoubWorks is a small business founded in 2013 in Royalston, Massachusetts, dedicated to creating handcrafted artist materials. They build each product from scratch, creating high-quality stretchers. Primarily, they build custom stretcher bars - including uniquely shaped surfaces, such as circles or ellipses. Their stretcher bars are made of poplar, which is stronger than pine but weighs about the same. Poplar also grows on the east coast not too far from the shop, making it an environmentally friendly choice. All of the stretchers are milled completely in-house to assure straightness. Because of DoubWorks’ exceptional process of handcrafting products from the rough lumber to the finished item, their artist materials have become highly sought after by artists across the country. One of our own artists, Natalia Wróbel, uses DoubWorks for her canvases to ensure that her abstract oil paintings have the support and durability they deserve.

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Natalia Wróbel using DoubWorks for her canvases

Founder Joshua Doub was first inspired to start DoubWorks when he desired higher quality canvases for his own work. Out of this need, the business grew organically as Josh began making and selling his custom canvases to other artists. Josh designed and built his entire workshop from the ground up, even harvesting the lumber from trees cut on the property. Josh worked with a master timber framer to construct the workshop's wooden frame and with the help of friends and family. His business is 100% powered by solar energy!

As you can tell, creating quality stretcher bars is its own art form!

Visit their website for more information: https://www.doubworks.com/

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Photo courtesy of Doubworks Instragram

5 Exhibitions to See This Winter

Say goodbye to 2017 and say hello to these five exhibitions you have to check out this winter:

1. Steve McQueen: Ashes at The Institute of Contemporary Art

Starting February 15, 2018, the director of 12 Years a Slave, Steve McQueen will be presenting his video installation “Ashes” at the Institution of Contemporary Art. In this exhibition, McQueen has captured a young, carefree fisherman named Ashes on a soft, grainy Super 8 film - while also shooting the chronicles of Ashes unexpected fate on 16mm film. You can view McQueen's exhibition until February 25, 2018.

Steven McQueen, Ashes. Image Courtesy of the Institution of Contemporary Art/ Boston

2. Legacy of the Cool: A Tribute to Barkley L. Hendricks at Bakalar & Paine Galleries at MassArt

Don’t miss this tribute exhibition to artist Barkley L. Hendricks at Bakalar & Paine Galleries located at MassArt. This exhibition displays 24 artists works that pay hommage to Barkley L. Hendricks paintings through their diverse outlooks and approaches. This event is free and open to the public, and will start on January 17, 2018 and will go until March 3, 2018.

Jillian Mayer, Slumpies. Image Courtesy of  Tufts University Art Gallery

3. Jillian Mayer: Slumpies at Tufts University Art Gallery Aidekman Arts Center

South Florida-based artist, Jillian Mayer will be debuting her work Slumpies at the Aidekman Arts Center in Medford. Mayer’s sculptures are designed to be interactive with viewers and stated that Slumpies are “Sculptures that work for you.” These sculptures are to show viewers post-posture and how our bodies will evolve around our portable devices and smartphones. Slumpies will be on view January 16-April 15, 2018.

4. Renée Green: Within Living Memory at Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts

This artist, writer, and filmmaker,  Renée Green will be showcasing her show Within Living Memory at the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts from February 1- April 15, 2018.  In this show, Green will be presenting an interconnection of artwork she has made in the past decade to address conditions of residency and displacement, subjective experiences, institutional memory, notions of progression, and the inescapable of decay.

5. Artists Take Action! at The Davis Museum at Wellesley College

This winter, the Davis Museum at Wellesley College will be featuring their new exhibition called Artists Take Action! This exhibition will manifest how artist use print mediums to confront the crucial social and political issue of their time. This show will  be on view starting on February 13 and going until June 10, 2018.

Artists Take Action! Image Courtesy of the Davis Museum at Wellesley College