Mark Rothko, Sally and Milton Avery (1934)
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Artists have long flocked to the North Shore, drawn, no doubt, by the mesmerizing, shifty light and powerful convergence of sea, sand, and stone. The Cape Ann Historical Museum, on its website, supposes that the first artist to visit Cape Ann came as early as 1606, when French explorer Samuel de Champlain drew his impressions of the harbor from a vantage point on Gloucester’s Rocky Neck. On the occasion of its 35th anniversary of teaching art on the North Shore, Montserrat College of Art trains its view on a particular subset of these beach-going artists, taking a closer look at the many who either taught or took art lessons on Cape Ann in the past 100 years. “ENLIGHTENED VIEW: ARTISTS TEACHING ON CAPE ANN,” opening at Montserrat Gallery on June 2, with a public opening reception and gallery talk on June 10, presents more than 50 paintings, sculptures, and drawings that reveal changing ideas about art training. Gems on view include a classic Frederick Mulhaupt harbor scene, an early Mark Rothko watercolor of his friends Sally and Milton Avery, and Aaron Siskind’s striking photograph of a well-worn worker’s glove.On a different scale, and with a more urban edge, the Institute for Infinitely Small Things has been making its not-so-small impact felt around town through projects such as last summer’s “Corporate Commands,” inviting folks to gather in front of commercial signage to “Just Do It” or “Tap into Great Taste.” Now, these politically charged artists, with their distinct taste for the absurd, take on the aesthetic and emotional needs of the People in “INITIATIVE FOR THE RENAMING OF NAMES IN CAMBRIDGE, MA,” a series of 13 events to take place this June. On June 4, for example, wannabe namers can meet outside the Brattle Theatre to suggest new names “for Harvard Square and everything in it” (this in conjunction with performances by the Guerrilla Girls, to benefit the Boston Women’s Fund), and on June 10 they can head to Winthrop Park in Harvard Square to rename “MIT, Harvard University, and anything in Cambridge remotely associated with the two.” A new, more relevant map will ensue.
It used to be said that the camera doesn’t lie, but most of us don’t really believe that anymore. Still, in careful hands, a photograph preserves reality in a way that’s just more persuasive than other media, partly because it captures not only what is consciously seen, but everything around that as well. Photographer Gerald Parker spent three years in the late 1970s documenting his hometown of Brockton, a city on the skids. Parker will give a free talk about his beautiful and painful photographs, “STREETS OF MY YOUTH IN BROCKTON, MA” at the Old South Meeting House on June 8 at 6:30 pm.
“Enlightened View: Artists Teaching on Cape Ann” | Jun 2–Aug 12 | Montserrat Gallery, 23 Essex St, Beverly | 978.921.4242 ext 1319 | “Initiative for the Renaming of Names in Cambridge, MA” at various sites in Harvard Square, Cambridge | Jun 4 (Brattle Theater), 2-4 pm + Jun 10 (Winthrop Park), 12-3 pm | Gerald Parker speaks on “Streets of My Youth in Brockton, MA” | June 8, 6:30 pm | Old South Meeting House, 310 Washington St, Boston | 617.482.6439
On the Web
Montserrat Gallery: www.montserrat.edu
Initiative for the Renaming of Names in Cambridge: http://www.ikatun.com/institute/rename/
Old South Meeting House: www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.org
