Albert Alcalay, A Busy Harbor |
If the phrase "April showers bring May flowers" has any cred, it might ring true with a new installation at Boston Sculptors Gallery. Opening April 23, Beth Galston's "LUMINOUS GARDEN (AERIAL)" is a glowing plant-like installation of several golden LED flower buds that spring from a nest of electrical wires on the ground, And, yes, you can walk through this garden, which resembles a sea of tangled roots with cast-resin acorn caps. As opposed to being rooted in the ground, the works appear to float, as if moving with the wind. The fauna to Galston's flora comes in the form of Lorey Bonante's "FLIGHTS OF FANCY," a collection of found objects cast in beeswax that resemble various animals and creatures. Men's bow ties are transformed into the wings of birds or bugs; yards of ribbon become man-made worms and other strange, naturally occurring beings. Galston's installation of light-powered petals, which is part of the 2009 Cyberarts Festival, is dedicated to the memory of her parents, both of whom have passed in recent months.
Also elegiac in nature is the Sert Gallery's "REMEMBERING ALBERT ALCALAY," a three-day exhibit of the artist's oil paintings and works on paper that marks the first anniversary of his passing. Alcalay, one of the founders of the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies (VES) at Harvard, was an Expressionist painter of sorts when he lived in Europe (where he was also a World War II concentration-camp survivor). His visual style changed dramatically upon his move to the United States in the 1950s, and it continued to change as the artist began to lose his eyesight in his later years. His works at the Carpenter Center are extremely colorful and expressive, recalling his visual understanding of America's urban environment — rich semi-abstract landscapes constructed of several different geometric shapes and colors. The painter, printmaker, sculptor, and etcher will also be remembered at the Harvard Film Archive on April 19 with a screening of ALBERT ALCALAY: SELF-PORTRAITS, a documentary about his creative process made by a handful of Harvard graduates.
"BETH GALSTON: LUMINOUS GARDEN (AERIAL)" + "LOREY BONANTE: FLIGHTS OF FANCY" at Boston Sculptors Gallery, 486 Harrison Ave, Boston | April 23–May 24 | 617.482.7781 orwww.bostonsculptors.com | "REMEMBERING ALBERT ALCALAY" at Sert Gallery at Harvard's Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, 24 Quincy St, Cambridge | April 17–April 19 | 617.495.3251 orwww.ves.fas.harvard.edu |"ALBERT ALCALAY: SELF PORTRAITS" at Harvard Film Archive, 24 Quincy St, Cambridge | April 19 at 1 pm | 617.495.3251 orwww.ves.fas.harvard.edu
