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Museum And Gallery

Lesson from a master

Legendary Met director will take your questions
Philippe de Montebello retired at the end of last year from his position as director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York after 31 years. During his tenure, the museum nearly doubled in size to two million square feet and increased its collections by some 80,000 pieces.

By KEN GREENLEAF | July 15, 2009

Under scrutiny

MECA visiting faculty at the ICA
Portland summers can be a time of scarcity for art lovers seeking conceptually challenging artwork, or a selective sampling of widely exhibiting international artists. Cue the annual visiting-faculty lecture series and accompanying exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art.

By ANNIE LARMON | July 01, 2009

Your own personal Darwin

Dorothy and Elliott Schwartz meditate on the man behind the theory
Dorothy and Elliott Schwartz meditate on the man behind the theory

By ANNIE LARMON | June 24, 2009

Weight + measure

Aaron Stephan's sculpture takes center stage
The centerpiece, conceptually and physically, of Aaron Stephan's show at Whitney Art Works is "Flat World/Round Map," a cast-iron sphere about six feet in diameter. While not exactly the largest ( "18 Columns" covers more ground and "The Burden Crates" is taller) it creates a center of gravity around itself.

By KEN GREENLEAF | June 17, 2009

Summer people

Artists have long visited Maine, too
Ever wonder why there is so much professional-level art made and shown in Maine, a state with a total population less than that of many minor cities? One answer is that following the fame of people like Winslow Homer, creative types flocked to Maine, often to artists' colonies.

By KEN GREENLEAF | June 10, 2009

States of the art

New England museums worth traveling for
In New England, where you can't swing a sack of cranberries without hitting a venerable cultural institution, anyone with access to a car (or even a subway pass) can scope out these topnotch art museums.

By SHAULA CLARK | June 09, 2009

Rural vernacular

Contemplating Linden Frederick at CMCA
A documenter of the contemporary American experience with portraits of our most mundane infrastructure, Belfast-based Linden Frederick has been chosen as this year's distinguished artist by the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockport. In the show honoring his selection, 35 oil paintings explore 23 years of Frederick's observations.

By ANNIE LARMON | June 03, 2009

Structural integrity

A group show at the Whitney
The five artists featured in "Stratum," now on view at Whitney Art Works, are diverse in background, medium, and scale, but they comfortably crowd the gallery's two rooms with sculptures, paintings, and drawings that respond to the relationships exposed by stripping back layers and how meaning and interpretation shift when new layers are presented.

By ANNIE LARMON | May 27, 2009

Happy meeting

Divergent approaches, the same landscape
An artistic intersection between Joseph Nicoletti and Ying Li happened in northern Italy. These very different painters from widely differing backgrounds found common interest in the Italian landscape, and have made paintings whose similarities illuminate their differences.

By KEN GREENLEAF | May 20, 2009

Close focus

Mary Hart's small paintings demand attention
Aucocisco has opened its new premises with a show of small paintings by Mary Hart. The new space on Exchange Street is spare and elegant, and so, in their own way, are Hart's little paintings.

By KEN GREENLEAF | May 13, 2009

Infinite eights

Duncan Hewitt skates on thin ice
"The Smallest Eight I Can Skate," Duncan Hewitt's interactive imagining of the Coleman Burke Gallery in Brunswick's Fort Andross, is as elegant and introspective as its diminutive title.

By ANNIE LARMON | May 06, 2009

Conversation piece

Leon Johnson explains his trans-historical-post-colonial-dinner-wait-what?!
Leon Johnson explains his trans-historical-post-colonial-dinner-wait-what?!

By IAN PAIGE | April 29, 2009

Slideshow: Portland Museum of Art 2009 Biennial

The 2009 Portland Museum of Art Biennial, April 8 to June 7, 2009
For it’s 2009 Biennial, the Portland Museum of Art whittled down 970 applicants to just 17 Maine (or at least Maine-affiliated) artists.

By PHOENIX STAFF | April 24, 2009

The power of 'Cool'

A contemporary-art show at Bowdoin is a must-see
"New York Cool" is required viewing for anyone who has an interest in contemporary American art. Comprised of nearly 80 works, the show, at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art through July 19.

By KEN GREENLEAF | May 18, 2009

Story telling

Whitney's latest show has quiet power
The three artists whose work is currently on view at Whitney Art Works in Portland have a taste for narratives, real or invented.

By KEN GREENLEAF | April 16, 2009

Growing pains

The 2009 PMA Biennial steps awkwardly forward
Although no one piece in this spartan biennial is lacking in value, the collective effect is one destined to get lost in the Rolodex.

By IAN PAIGE | April 08, 2009

State of the arts

Emerging trends and promising futures for Portland artists
In Portland, and around Southern Maine, developing trends hold promise for our changing, but still cantankerously distinct, artistic character to act as a new kind of cultural reflection.

By IAN PAIGE | April 01, 2009

Familiar paths

Terry Hilt sheds new light on Maine's coast
Terry Hilt's show of watercolors at Aucocisco provides an opportunity to consider the role of modernism in today's art.

By KEN GREENLEAF | March 18, 2009

Hanging in the balance

Andre LaPorte exhibits variation on the theme at Greenhut
Septuagenarian Andre LaPorte may be a veteran artist but, relative to his long career, he is a new painter.

By IAN PAIGE | March 11, 2009

Easy on the eyes

At Whitney Art Works, "The Funnies" directly engage viewers with 150 pieces by 25 artists.
"The Funnies" at Whitney Art Works is a sprawling show of upwards of 150 pieces by 25 artists, all of whom have been brought together by local artist — Jeff Badger.

By KEN GREENLEAF | February 26, 2009