Berkshire Galleries: North Adams, Pittsfield, Lenox
Link to Art Basel Miami Report
By: Charles Giuliano - Dec 19, 2007
Contemporary Berkshires
Kolok Gallery
Historic Windsor Mill
121 Union Street
North Adams, 01247
http://www.kolokgallery.com
There will be a "closing reception" for the current exhibition, Contemporary Berkshires, on Saturday, December 22, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. The director of the gallery, Kurt Kolok, is on break from the daily operation and after this show will resume programming in the Spring. In the interim a site specific installation will be created by gallery artist Joshua Field and details will soon be announced concerning times when it may be viewed.
The artists in the current exhibition include: Laura Christensen, Field, Brandon Graving, Melissa Little, Laurie McLeod, Debi Pendell, Coleen Quinn, Gregory Scheckler, and Karin Stack. The gallery will be open from 12 to 5 PM on December 22 followed by the reception.
When his life and business partner, Joe Conway, was killed in an automobile accident last fall there were concerns about the future of the gallery. Kurt Kolok is announcing intentions to continue the widely respected gallery in the spirit of and as a tribute to Conway.
Gallery Boreas
Reception: December 30, 3:30 to 6 PM
205 Housatonic Street
Lenox, Mass. 01240
Scott@galleryboreas.com
917 743 6548
http://www.galleryboreas.com
The Pittsfield based artist, Eric Drury, will exhibit a suspended paper sculpture at Gallery Boreas in Lenox. The work is described as uniquely patterned, intricate, hand cut and glued. The overall patterns reference Islamic traditions which are a part of the artist's family heritage.
During the festive reception the gallery plans to serve tea, scones, champagne and cherries jubilee. It is requested that guests rsvp if they intend to attend the event.
The artist has been described by a New York critic as a "bad boy snowflake artist" whatever the heck that means. But there is a unique twist to this event which perhaps sheds some light on that smarmy comment. If the sculpture does not sell for the asking price of $1,600 by 5:30 on the day of the reception it will be ritually burned and there will be documentation of this inflammatory act. Let's just hope that Scott Laugenour the often whimsical director of Gallery Boreas in all this mischief has found time to pull the right permits.
My Space Show
Through January 27
Gallery 51
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
51 Main Street, North Adams
http://www.mcla.edu/Gallery51
When the MCLA Gallery 51 created a My Space page it soon had hundreds of new friends. Some forty of these virtual friends have been invited to exhibit in an exhibition that is oh so hands on and interactive. Very trendy indeed.
In a bit of reversal the gallery took images during the opening reception and these are now posted on My Space for all to see and respond to. During the run of the show there will be an ongoing collaboration with the exhibiting artists which will be completed by the New Year and remain on view through January. The scope of the project is truly global with exhibitors from Brazil, France, Germany and Portugal. So log on and get with the fun.
Winter Group Show
Through February 8
The Gallery at North Adams Antiques
49 Main Street
http://northadamsantiques.com
Jeff and Jane Hudson moved their antique business from the Eclipse Mill to Main Street last fall. The space they leased proved to be so vast that they had designated an area of it as a contemporary gallery offering a lively mix of vintage works from their own collection by such renowned artists as Joseph Beuys, Douglas Heubler and Katherine Porter to a selection of local artists. The result is rather eclectic in the current show which brings together artists with no obvious thematic connection other than the interests and tastes of the gallerists.
The Winter Group Show includes: Larry Alice, Peter Dayton, Stephen Forest, Jeff Hudson, Richard Harrington, Henry Klein, Douglas Heubler, David Lachman, Robin Paine, Katherine Porter, Piotr Parda, J. Richards, Jr. and Gwendolyn Smith.
23rd Annual Festival of Trees "On the Move"
Through December 31
The Berkshire Museum
39 South Street, Route 7
Pittsfield, Mass
413 443 7171
http://www.berkshiremuseum.org
In the Holiday spirit and with fun for the whole family the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield is having its annual Festival of Trees. The museum is filled with some 200 theme decorated trees. There is also a celebration of things on the move including trains, planes, cars, skis, skates and sleds. Whooopie. There is an enchanted forest, as well as, model trains, vintage windup toys, antiques sleds and skis. There is also a calendar of events related to the event so click on their website for more details.
Locally Thrown
Through December 30
Ferrin Gallery
433 North Street
Pittsfield, Mass.
413 442 1622
http://www.ferringallery.com
Leslie Ferrin is a renowned authority on ceramic art. Now that she has moved full time from Lenox to Pittsfield, in an expanded space, she has maintained presenting her special field as well as taken on a broader reach of Berkshire based fine artists.
While many of the ceramic artists she shows have national reputations the current exhibition Locally Thrown is a strong statement of her commitment of working with outstanding regional artists. Given her taste and reputation it is quite prestigious to be included in this exhibition which will surely launch their reputations. Click on to the gallery website for a tour of the exhibition.
Mentor Exhibition
January 12 through February 3
Storefront Artists Gallery
124 Fenn Street
Pittsfield, Mass
413 442 7201
http://www.storefrontartist.org
The Storefront Artists Gallery in Pittsfield is currently on break. They recently conducted a "12 x 12" fund raiser which was a great success in meeting and exceeding their targeted goals.
The programming will resume in January with the Mentor Exhibition. It will display the work of five local high school students who have spent the past months working in the studios of mentoring artists. This is just the kind of educational and community based outreach that has attracted national media attention to a group of artists who started by negotiating with landlords to establish temporary work spaces in numerous abandoned, downtown storefronts. The effort has played a vital role in the emerging expansion and development of once neglected and downtrodden Pittsfield. The group recently conducted their annual Open Studios event.
Fair Factor: Report from Miami
By Joanne Mattera
http://joannemattera.blogspot.com
Our colleague Joanne Mattera recently attended the annual Art Basel in Miami and reports that:
Some Random Numbers
Fairs: 24
Total Number of Galleries: Between 1200 and 1300
Artists Shown: About 12,000 (figuring 10 artists per gallery more or less)
Individual Artists showing: 153 in four fairs (Gesai, Pool, Ram, Jones)
Artworks: 60,000 is a conservative estimate; factor in small works, prints and works on paper and the number can easily reach 100,000 plus.
Total attendance at Basel/Miami: 43,000 and that provides a good estimate for the satellite fairs as well.
Price per night for a beach view corner room at the Day's Inn where many of the artists and smaller dealers stayed: $160.
Price per night for a city view standard room at the Setai next door where many collectors stayed: $12500, with the last of the suites going for a reported $9,000 a night.
Pounds of printed matter acquired in four days: 49, I checked an empty bag on the way down just so that I could haul my stash of catalogs, press materials, brochures and cards.
For all the details and images log on to Mattera's site.