Greetings from ME: Rockport and CMCA

This perfect little nugget of a city called Rockport, sits like a fairy tale along the mid-state coast of Maine. Self-referred as the Jewel of Maine, it is like stepping into a Hopper. A lovely town which slopes off into the ocean with a dandy little harbor. I loved this as a setting for the Center for Maine Contemporary Art [CMCA].

It was not what I was expecting, Ieva said it was once a barn. A lot of structures seemed to have been barns. Even their barns are not quite what I would have expected.

Pieced: Gabriella D’Italia & George Mason

I am a sucker for quilts. My mother is a seamstress, and I have been around cloth my whole life. My grandmother was a quilter, sometimes from the scraps my mother gave her. These artworks take inspiration from the quilt. Of the two artists, I can appreciate D’Italia’s (above left) work more, as she uses traditional sewing techniques to bring about her work.  Her work combines stitch as a drawing tool. Like many twentieth century artists her work involves the subtlety of surface. Mason’s robust work (above right) takes the aspect of pattern, texture and color.

D’Italia’s  Afternoon (above left) and detail (above right) beautiful sense of illusionist space.

D’Italia’s  Noon (above left) and detail (above right) all surface with etched like line. 

Mason’s piece 100 Meetings, 2011 (above, detail)  and Nourishing the Old, 2011 (below) virtuosos  in creating texture as he mixes plaster, gesso and paint.

Wired: Ellen Wieske

In school we just finished a unit on line, so there is no doubt this and the work of Calder would have been great to show.

I love these beautiful images, with the use of light, they take on a fine dimension and are really something else. I hope this artist continues along in this vein, it reminds me of the craft of wrought iron, which is always unappreciated.

Detroit Souvenir Plate #9 (left) and  Quilt Drawing (right) are wonderful examples of open wire designs.

Sferics & Aural Ecosystem: Zach Poff and  N.B. Aldrich

This is the kind of a thing you would find in the Hirschhorn in Washington. These installations are interesting and odd. I don’t know how locals would react to this as an artform.

still / moving: Deborah Wing-Sproul

As a guy, who has stuck his foot in his mouth more than once, I should never knock another artist. I am putting a comparison from Muybridge to Warhol.

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The CMCA is a wonderful little museum which asks for a donation of five bucks. This nestled in a perfect little town. Go see it!

Tags: Center for Maine Contemporary Art [CMCA], D'Italia's Afternoon, D'Italia's Noon, Deborah Wing-Sproul's still / moving, Ellen Wieske's Detroit Souvenir Plate #9 and Quilt Drawing, Gabriella D'Italia, George Mason, George Mason's 100 Meetingsand Nourishing the Old, Rockport, Sferics & Aural Ecosystem: Zach Poff and N.B. Aldrich