MG in the Press

Greg Morell, "Experiment Transforms Downtown Amherst," THE RECORDER, June 3, 2004, p.12.

Excerpt of article discussing MG's paintings:

Two New York painters, Gordon Green and a young woman with the simple moniker of MG served the event with distinction. MG presented large tableaus fusing the anatomical elements of muscle and bone into matrices of abstract compositions. Compelling juxtapositions of battling linear forms pressurized in tight geologic strata commanded the scene, highlighted with the sparse use of flashes of color. A Simon’s Rock graduate, MG now lives in Brooklyn, but has an Amherst connection through her life partner. Smaller pieces featured bright fields of color interrupted by a single suspension of one her organic forms hanging like a jewel in a combustion of raging hue. Two of her smaller pieces sold, but she was able to defray her accommodation expenses by staying with friends. Overall, M was pleased with the event and the exposure it offered. She feels that the event is “on the right track, good for Amherst and sure to benefit from word of mouth outreach.”

Complete text of article:

Thirty five royal blue pop up tents dotted the downtown sidewalks of Amherst this past weekend in the first of ten weekends, launching an arts experiment that seeks to transform the summer business district of Amherst into an arts bazaar of painting and sculpture.

As artist Elizabeth Barber from West Hartford, Connecticut was setting up her booth on day one (a daunting task as the winds were whipping on Saturday morning testing the resolve of the nylon tents and their aluminum frames) she encountered an unusually dressed gentleman on his walk to work. Dressed in a tall chef’s hat and full kitchen whites, the gentleman stopped at Barber’s booth. He was immediately struck by Barber’s painting style, a flowing impasto of floral abstracts sweeping across open canvas. It seems that the chef was about to open his own restaurant in a few weeks and thought the Barber’s paintings were the perfect accoutrement for his restaurants walls. In a few short moments, the peripatetic chef had purchased seven of Barber’s paintings.

The sales phenomena of the first few minutes of ArtShow slowed quite a bit, unlike the wind, but the West Hartford artist enjoyed a very successful weekend selling a total of twenty paintings during the two day event. Other were not so lucky. Barber’s story illustrates the unique comportment of ArtShow. The Art booths are right on the sidewalks of everyday downtown traffic. Situated in clusters of two or three booths, the artists integrate their mini shows in the normal in and out pedestrian ambling of folks on their way to shops, boutiques, eateries, day to day errands or to and from work.

Barber observed that the spacing out of the booths over distance enabled the work of the artists to stand out and be better noticed than if they were all corralled in one large arena. Barber estimates that of the people she encountered over the two days, thirty percent were out-of-towners who had come to Amherst to participate in ArtShow. In addition to her sales, Barber enjoyed the positive feedback from passers by and assumes that she may be contacted in the future by interested parties for commissions and future sales. Barber’s sales consisted of her smaller framed paintings in the two hundred dollar range. Barber is planning on returning again to ArtShow for one of the September weekends.

Festival promoters had more than the fierce wind to contend with. The initial weekend of ArtShow had to contend with the grand emporium of fine craft, Paradise City, competing for attention in nearby Northampton. This particular weekend also occurred during inter-session of UMASS and Amherst College and the normal hubbub of faculty and students was at a lull.

The focus of ArtShow was away from crafts with a concentration on painting and sculpture. This focus aided the uniqueness of the offerings and attracted more than a few artists from New York City normally not inclined to participate in outdoor art and craft festivals.

Two New York painters, Gordon Green and a young woman with the simple moniker of MG served the event with distinction. MG presented large tableaus fusing the anatomical elements of muscle and bone into matrices of abstract compositions. Compelling juxtapositions of battling linear forms pressurized in tight geologic strata commanded the scene, highlighted with the sparse use of flashes of color. A Simon’s Rock graduate, MG now lives in Brooklyn, but has an Amherst connection through her life partner. Smaller pieces featured bright fields of color interrupted by a single suspension of one her organic forms hanging like a jewel in a combustion of raging hue. Two of her smaller pieces sold, but she was able to defray her accommodation expenses by staying with friends. Overall, M was pleased with the event and the exposure it offered. She feels that the event is “on the right track, good for Amherst and sure to benefit from word of mouth outreach.”

Gordon Green’s booth was centered in the prime nexus of traffic on the corner of Amity and Pleasant Street. His highly refined paintings were sumptuous compilations of detailed conflux. Large scale provocative tableaus, arresting in interest and painterly engineering, commanded attention but yielded no sales. Green is additionally a musical composer and his booth showcased his independently produced CD. Visitors to his booth could listen to his music on earphones and he did manage to sell a few CD’s. Green will be returning to the event for the September 25th and 26th weekend and it is hoped that he will soon be featured in one of our local galleries.

Other noteworthy artists included Brighton’s Jack Morefield whose enormous portraits of well known personages like Kurt Cobain Miles Davis, Edgar Allen Poe, and actor Dennis Hopper spilled from his booth onto the steps of City Hall. His bold painterly style is built upon tightly woven curvilinear puzzle like forms resulting in a bewitching mosaic. Burlington Vermont’s Peter Robinson Smith enjoyed a fruitful weekend of sales of his sculpted screen art. Smith, with deft manipulation of at simple hand tools, transforms traditional metal netting into three dimensional life drawings of relaxing nudes.

In the small triangular park across the street from the Black Sheep Deli sculptor and author Michael Howard utilized his space to offer a glimpse into his creative process as a stone sculptor of large commissions. His booth featured an interactive set of stone tools and a small monolith of Vermont marble. He encouraged visitors to take hammer to hand and explore the dynamic of chipping stone. A young Amherst first grader took full advantage of the opportunity spending six hours over two days enthusiastically hacking away. Howard's new book, "Educating The Will", an exploration of the creative process was on hand for sale.

Adjacent to Howard's booth a laptop computer sat on a table. The screen displayed and animated film manipulation of the images that were showcased on the walls of the booth. Despite the strong sun, the laptop's images were surprising in resolution and the perspective was interesting, engaging and new.

Artist booth fees are nominal. One hundred dollars secures a booth space for one of the ten weekends. Additional thirty-five dollar rental of the flexible use metal grid partitions were highly advised by the participating artists to combat wind and further define the booth space. The participants are juried, and applications are currently being accepted for the June 12th weekend and those events scheduled through October. Weekends include June 12-13 and 26-27, July 10-11 and 24-25, Aug.28-29, September 11-12 and 25-26, October 9-10. For more information contact Marc Lambert at 413-256-6600. ArtShow has been generously funded by People's Bank which purchased all the tents and by the UMASS Office of Outreach.

ArtShow Amherst is a noble experiment infusing the arts into the fabric of downtown commerce and vitality. It is well worth a weekend stroll. Website information is available at: www.ArtShowAmherst.org.

Northampton Art Walk

The collective of artists that are part of the Arts and Industry complex on 221 Pine Street in Florence will be joining forces with Northampton's galleries and shops for the Northampton Gallery Walk staged this weekend, June 4 and 5, in conjunction with Northampton's 350th celebration.

Thirty artists will welcome to the public to their beehive of studios on three expansive floors of the building. The numbers of artists and the quality of work being produced at Arts and Industry continues to grow in scope and vivacity The Arts and Industry complex is a short 5 minute drive from downtown Noho and a unique opportunity to meet the artist in their own studio. The complex is a festive feast of fine art and food during Open Studio time provides an opportunity to see the integration of product and process. Hours in Florence are Friday, June 4th from 5-8 and Saturday from noon to 5.

The downtown Northampton Gallery Walk will occur on Friday June 4th only from 5 to 8 PM. Seventeen stops are part of the city wide celebration and R. Michelson will be opening their new Barry Moser show on that evening. R. Michelson will be open an additional hour, closing at 9 PM. For more information call the Chamber of Commerce at 584-1900. Art Walk maps are available at all locations.

Gregory Morell is the Director of the Antic Arts Center which seeks to build bridges between the Arts and the business community. You can contact him at GRMorell@aol.com.