Providence Underground

Last show of the season at 5 Traverse!

2008-05-14T21:00:00.003-04:00

May 9th - June 14th...

Allison Paschke is showing her "minimal reflections & capsules of time" in the Inner Space Gallery while Bill & Ben Shattuck are in the Outer Space Gallery with Ornithology.

5 Traverse Gallery is located at 5 Traverse St, Providence & online at 5traverse.com.

Allison Paschke at 5 Traverse Gallery

2008-04-29T15:08:00.004-04:00

5 Traverse Gallery
in the Inner Space Gallery

New Works by
Allison Paschke
Exhibition Dates: May 9th - June 14th.
Opening Reception Friday, May 9th 5pm-8pm

Allison Paschke's work is a formal discussion of minimalist space and her creation of a duality, intimate and vast. When I visit her studio I have to down shift from my everyday speed to observe the gentle conversation. Come rest in the gallery and discover the vast, a week from this Friday.

5 Traverse Gallery
5 Traverse St
Providence, Rhode Island 02906

Map 5traverse.com

The Holden Street Gallery presents Ahistoric Fables

2008-04-29T14:59:00.004-04:00

The Holden Street Gallery is proud to present
AHISTORIC FABLES
May 3rd – May 16th
Opening Reception Saturday May 3, 6-9pm
Also join us for a Gallery Night reception Thursday, May 16 from 6 to 9pm

A selection of prints, drawings & paintings by Brian Alves reflecting a fascination with the pages of books and the collision of the real and surreal collective historic unconscious.

Brian draws his inspiration from 19th and 20th century primary and secondary school textbooks to build a personal symbology of surreal, ahistoric fables. Interrupting or distorting familiar narratives, his recent work is a distillation of animal imagery, iconic historical figures and textbook pages abridged from their original context.
Gallery hours are Mon & Wed from 4 to 6pm & Fri from 10am to 1pm. The Holden Street Gallery is located at 97 Holden Street, Smith Hill, Providence. www.holdenstreetgallery.com

Image: Arctic or Frigid - This is a digital C-Print using the Chromira direct light printing process on a Matte Finish FujiFilm CrystalArchive Paper

Exposed.

2008-04-15T23:51:00.003-04:00

Mark your calanders.

Next weekend, 25-27 April is Exposed, a photography exhibit at the Floating Art Project.

This is the first installment of Exposed, a series of photo exhibits. This first show will showcase work by David Simione, Dennis Yermoshin, Kendall Pavan & John Hesselbarth.

Vital info:

Exposed @ the Floating Art Project

1005 Main Street, Pawtucket, RI

Friday 25 April, 7p - midnight

Saturday 26 April, 7p - 11p

Sunday 27 April, 6p - 9p

The Chazan Gallery at Wheeler

2008-04-15T13:27:00.001-04:00

Last few days to see...
228 Angell Street
April 4-20, 2008
Work by sound, video and film artist Roger Mayer
Soundless : : The Shoebox Pictures'

Roger Mayer will be exhibiting work selected from a collection of images from the past several decades of his career. On display, the evolution of Mayer’s work will be described through various media and photographic formats with which he has explored and experimented. Mayer states, that “…in addition to work with sound over the last several decades there has been a parallel, somewhat marginal and more chimeral activity which has grown from dead, discarded and ‘functional’ non-art media.” These range from the Polaroid, the Diana—a cult-status vintage plastic camera from the 50’s - 70’s that produced fuzzy brightly-colored photos, monochromatic stills from a Pixilvision camera, found images and dead-ended tools. Of these images, some are photographed, re-photographed then copied and further distorted with a copy machine. These strategies have lead to an accumulation of shoeboxes where the images were stored. This show, says Mayer, “provides an occasion to re-open some of these boxes.”

Roger Mayer was born in Germany. He graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design before earning an MFA in painting at Syracuse University in 1963. While at Syracuse he performed in a noise ensemble for non-musicians directed by the late organist and composer Calvin Hampton. After serving in the US Army during the Viet-Nam era, Mayer resumed his work as a painter in New York and Providence. He then moved to Michigan to teach at Eastern Michigan University where he also participated in the anti-war movement.
From 1977 to 2006, Mayer was a professor at Brown University where in 1979 he first co-taught a course in sound for visual artists with the composer, Gerald Shapiro. His interests in radiophonic works: time-based media led him further to film and video. Since 2006, he is Professor Emeritus in Brown University’s Departments of Visual Art and Modern Culture and Media. Mayer was a leading coordinator in the group that brought the technology and new media conference ‘Pixilerations’ to Providence RI. In addition, his involvement in seeing Brown/RISD’s dual degree program to fruition has been pivotal in joining the two formerly collaborating universities into a historic educational partnership.

Mayer has screened his films in galleries, theatres, museums and universities around the world. He is scheduled to exhibit this year at the Shanghai Zandai Museum of Modern Art in a show entitled ‘Interlude Art & Life 366.’

The Chazan Gallery at Wheeler, a nonprofit artists' space, presents a wide range of contemporary work in exhibitions by artists living or working in the greater Providence area. Artists are selected through an open juried process. Located on the East Side of Providence near Brown University and RISD, the gallery is on the campus of Wheeler School.

Leif Goldberg @ the Stairwell Gallery...

2008-03-30T00:36:00.000-04:00

This month, the Stairwell Gallery is featuring work by Leif Goldberg.

Located at 504 Broadway, Providence, visitors are greeted in the window by a life-sized coyote-man marionette puppet. Throughout the space are a collection of Goldberg's paintings, drawings, & screenprints.

Also showing in the gallery this month is a series by Erin Rosenthal called "Garbage Dancers."

The show runs through April 3.

Firehouse 13

2008-03-22T00:05:00.000-04:00

Firehouse 13.

Located at 41 Central St, Providence, Firehouse 13 is "a forward thinking urban project appealing to experimental artists and creative innovators."

A converted firehouse, Firehouse 13's three floors house an "experimental space," available for rent by individuals or organizations for gallery shows or events. Second floor is houses 7 rooms for artists in residence, giving them creative live/work spaces while the third floor is a 1286 sq. ft. open space available for rent.

A calendar of events is available at firehouse13.org.

Official site: www.firehouse13.org

Myspace: www.myspace.com/fh13

Email: contact@firehouse13.org

RISD: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19

2008-03-18T12:07:00.000-04:00

This might be cool!
Opening Reception: Styrofoam 5:30pm view the exhibition Styrofoam 6:45pm panel discussion with artists in the exhibition: Heide Fasnacht, Steve Keister, Bruce Pearson, Richard Tuttle, and B. WurtzThe exhibition raises a number of compelling questions about issues of choice, transformation and consumption. What draws an artist to a particular material? What are the consequences of their selections? Join us to view Styrofoam and then hear a discussion with artists whose work is on view in the exhibition.

Seeking proposals for the Providence Art Windows Project

2008-03-18T12:00:00.000-04:00

Seeking proposals for the Providence Art Windows Project, Providence, RI.
Art will be installed by selected artists in windows downtown. Work may be pre-existing or site specific; 2D or 3D. Jury includes Diana Gaston, Associate Curator, Fidelity Investments. Two rounds of installations: opening 9/18/08 and 12/6/08. Deadline for both: postmarked 6/15/08. $100 stipend available. Send 10 jpegs on disk, proposal, resume and SASE to: 205 Kenyon Ave., E. Greenwich, RI, 02818. No email entries. Information: Liz Keithline, keithlineri [at] cox dot net, (put "Windows" in subject line), or 401/578-4313
For more call for entries announcements and events, visit the RISCA blog.

OK, SO IT'S A LITTLE CREEPY, BUT...a little cool! Hurry boyznghouls, there's still time

2008-03-18T11:56:00.000-04:00

call for entries CRYTICTIC PROVIDENCE
PROPOSAL DEADLINE IS APRIL 1, 2008.
An historic Rhode Island cemetery will be opened up to artists and performers this summer for temporary art installations and performances for the project Cryptic Providence. Provincetown, MA artist Jay Critchley will direct this unique undertaking, funded by a New Works grant from the Rhode Island Foundation and sponsored by the City of Providence Parks Department and the Department of Art, Culture & Tourism, and AS220. Cryptic Providence will open Friday, June 13.
A request for proposals has been issued for visual artists, photographers, poets, writers, dancers, actors, historians, musicians, hip hop and spoken word performers, new media artists, filmmakers and cultural organizations. The submission for proposals is April 1. Applicants are invited to a project review and tour of the cemetery on February 23 and March 1 at 1:00 pm. For more information and application details contact: reroot@comcast.net

Artists are asked to examine and interpret the history of North Burial Ground, established in 1700, and burial practices in relation to the rich history of Rhode Island. Applicants should send: a one page written proposal with requested cemetery location, time and technical requirements; resume; and documentation of work (only one of the following): DVD (five minutes), CD or photographs – up to 10 images; or, five to ten pages of text (poetry, narrative, drama, lyrics). Small stipends are available. Proposals should be sent to: Jay Critchley, Cryptic Providence, Providence Parks Department North Burial Ground, 5 Branch Avenue, Providence, RI 02904. Postmark date is April 1, 2008.
Cryptic Providence is meant to increase understanding of the history of Providence and Rhode Island, create new ideas, perspectives and images about our relationship with death, dying and burial customs, and bring awareness of the historical and cultural resources of North Burial Ground.

Critchley is a multi-media artist who lives year round in Provincetown, MA and is represented by artSTRAND. From performances, rituals and Boston State House legislation to his Big Dig BigTwig project and award-winning Martucket Eyeland Resort & Theme Park, his eco-activist art goes back to the early 1980s with his Provincetown “sand car” series. Last summer he created the public art project, Beige Motel, on Route 6, North Truro, MA encrusting a 1955 A-frame structure – soon to be demolished – with sand. His work has been shown throughout the world – last year a performance project at the Hemispheric Institute in Buenos Aires, Argentina and shows at the Andy Warhol Museum and The LAB in San Francisco. His project GLOBAL YAWNING for a small planet is presently on view at the Boston Center for the Arts through March 31, 2008. He was an artist in residence at AS220 in 2000, producing his first movie: Providence Dirt Newsreel.

Peter Gemei @ the AS220 Project Space!

2008-03-17T19:52:00.000-04:00

My apologies for disappearing for a while...it's time to get things back on track!

This guy is one of my customers at the camera store. Not only is he really talented & pushing the boundaries of traditional photography, but he's also a really cool guy. If you have time, you really need to check out this show.

This month, 1-30 March 2008, you can see work by Peter Gemei at the AS220 Project Space located at 93 Matthewson St, Providence.

Peter is a glass blower by trade who has been learning photography since 2003. He started working in 4x5 sheet film last year & has been experimenting with exposing his glasswork onto black & white sheet film.

See his glass & photography at the AS220 Project Space through 30 March.

Hours: 1-6pm Wed-Fri / Noon-4pm Sat & by appointment.

www.as220.org for more details.

Brown/Trinity Consortium presents Blood Wedding.

2008-02-09T01:46:00.000-05:00

This weekend is "Blood Wedding" at the Brown/Trinity Consortium on Empire St. The show, written by Federico Garcia Lorca & directed by faculty member Stephen Buescher, is being performed by 1st year student actors in the graduate program.

Checked the show out tonight.

It's well worth your time & $5.

The show runs from February 8-10.

Friday Feb 8 & Saturday Feb 9 @ 8:00pm

Sunday Feb 10 @ 2:00 & 7:00pm

Admission = pay what you can ($5 suggested)

Citizen's Bank Theater, 87 Empire St, Providence.

Tape Art @ 5 Traverse

2008-02-02T18:48:00.000-05:00

The Tapeart Artaquarium is now at 5 Traverse.

From January 14- February 15, Michael Townsend & James Mercer (two of the guys from the recent "Apartment at the Mall") are living at 5 Traverse & are turning the gallery into the Tape Art Artaquarium.

What is the Tape Art Artaquarium??

Throughout their month's stay in the Traverse Gallery, Michael & James are covering the plain white walls in drawings done in green painter's tape. They encourage visitors to add or remove tape to the walls, so the display is constantly changing.

You can pull up www.5traverse.com and watch a live feed from inside the gallery.

I just found out about this today...so I'll post some pictures once I get a chance to stop in and check things out. This gallery is a two minute walk from my house...I'll probably check it out some day this week on my lunch.

Providence Preservation's Most Endangered...

2008-01-28T19:31:00.000-05:00

Providence Preservation Society's Annual "Most Endangered Properties" is a project to help raise awareness of historic buildings in Providence that are most at risk of being lost.

The large exhibition ran from October-November 2007...but now, a scaled down version is on the move around town. It features work from 11 local photographers...Michael Cevoli, David Ellis, Stephanie Ewens, Peter Goldberg, Erik Gould, Matt Kierstead, Scott Lapham, Brian McDonald, Frank Mullin, David Simione & Olivia Sauerwien Winter.

Having already visited the Downtown & College Hill areas, "Most Endangered" is currently in the Wayland Square area, and soon to be on the move to the Elmwood Ave area.

The show will run at Twist on Angell St. until January 31st. After that, it's on the move to The Liberty Elm Diner, located at 777 Elmwood Avenue from February 5 through March 2, 2008. The Sunrise Opening reception will take place on February 7 from 8a-10a and is open to the Public.

The Liberty Elm Diner is a restored 1947 Worcester Lunch car and the exhibit will be open for viewing Tuesdays through Fridays from 8a-3p; Saturdays from 8a-4p and Sundays from 8a-2p.

More info at www.ppsri.org.

Welcome to Providence.

2008-01-26T10:06:00.001-05:00

Providence.

I never really appreciated her until I moved away. I went to art school in Portland, Maine and then to another one in Boston...and while I loved both cities, I always felt myself longing for my real home.

The great thing about Providence right now is the emergence of the "grassroots gallery." There are so many new galleries popping up because people realized that the traditional galleries in Rhode Island want pretty art and it's hard to get your foot in the door anywhere here. These new galleries & mindset are what's really pushing the art community in Providence right now, it's showing people that there's more to art than paintings of lighthouses and the cityscape of Providence. It's a good time to be here.

So what does Providence have to offer?

Artists & Galleries...new galleries are showing up all the time and there are innumerable new & established artists here.
Music...there's always good music somewhere in Providence.
Architecture...streets are lined with buildings both old & new.
Coffee Shops & Microbreweries...Providence has the most coffee shops per capita than anywhere else in the country. She is also home to several microbreweries. We take our brews seriously here...they are an art form in themselves.
Theater...we have two major theater companies & countless college theater programs.

Street Art...it's all over the place.

That's the bulk of it. I'm sure I'll go on tangents here and there, but hopefully you'll soon learn to love this place as much as I do.