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GREG COOK

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More than a feeling

Music inspires art at the MFA, Panopticon, and the Gardner
The centerpiece of the Museum of Fine Arts' "Contemporary Outlook: Seeing Songs" is Candice Breitz's 2005 Queen (A Portrait of Madonna), a wall of 30 televisions, each showing a different Madonna fan singing a cappella to her 1990 greatest-hits compilation, The Immaculate Collection. They wear headphones, bob their heads, sing aloud to music we can't hear.

By: GREG COOK | July 21, 2009

Wired

C.W. Roelle explores three dimensions at AS220's Project Space
Every artist aims to develop a trademark look. Most carve out an individual style within the usual tried and true playing field — a certain way with paint, a certain slant to their photos — but C.W. Roelle has accomplished the rare feat of staking out his territory off these beaten paths.

By: GREG COOK | July 15, 2009

Primitive soul

Anne Siems and the folk revival
Anne Siems's paintings are time machines teleporting you back to the early days of our American republic. In her show at Walker Contemporary, the German-born, Seattle-based artist channels the endearing awkwardness of artists like John Brewster Jr., who roamed NE at the start of the 19th century painting portraits.

By: GREG COOK | July 14, 2009

Breakthroughs

Summer round-ups at Tufts and Montserrat
Tufts University Art Gallery's "Sixth Annual Juried Summer Exhibition" is one of those summer sampler shows that's got about a million people in it.

By: GREG COOK | July 08, 2009

Summer buffet

'Nature/Artifice' at the RISD Museum
"Nature/Artifice" at the RISD Museum (224 Benefit Street, Providence, through February 2010) feels summery, but it's not like lite beach reading. I think it has to do with the one-room show's crisp, fresh feel and the platform full of flip-flops.

By: GREG COOK | July 07, 2009

Mixing it up

"Two Sculptors and a Painter" at RIC's Bannister Gallery
It seems like a simple exercise you might give students: Get a bunch of plastic bottles, lots of thread, and make some art from it. It's the kind of assignment teachers give to get students thinking about sculptural form and structure. And usually the results feel like a dumb exercise.

By: GREG COOK | June 24, 2009

Ruling the waves

The golden age of Dutch sea power sails into Salem
The Dutch emerged at the dawn of the 17th century as a pre-eminent military and commercial power on the sea. They were in the midst of throwing off Spanish rule and developing a shipping empire that would reach from the Americas to South Africa to Asia.

By: GREG COOK | June 23, 2009

It Does Come Easy

Ringo Starr At Chabot, Quinn Taylor At Stairwell
Ringo Starr was the best artist in the Beatles. And, I believe, the best artist to appear on Shining Time Station too. (Sorry, George Carlin.) It feels really weird to say, but it's the undisputable conclusion I drew from seeing "Ringo Starr — Artist" at Chabot Fine Art Gallery (379 Atwells Avenue, Providence, through June 27).

By: GREG COOK | June 16, 2009

Art in America

From the Old West to middle-class guys
The legend of the Old West's cowboys and Indians, flinty pioneers and buffalo killers, sheriffs and gunslingers started with the tall tales that cowboys themselves told of their glorious exploits.

By: GREG COOK | June 19, 2009

Time Machines

New pictures from old negatives at the PPL
There is a golden formula in photography: photo plus time equals increasing allure. Old books and poetry, old television and movies can turn stilted, tedious. But photos seem to grow ever more compelling with age, even if the shots were boring when they were first made.

By: GREG COOK | June 12, 2009