A carnival’s ‘childlike carefreeness’

“Traveling Circus’’ (oil on canvas), by Alexandra Rozenman, in Brickbottom Artists Association, Somerville, Mass., June 17-29

The gallery says:

‘‘There is a certain special kind of joy that takes place when the carnival comes to town. Nostalgia, excitement, and a childlike carefreeness that can be unshakeable for guests of all ages. The carnival can seem like a very intricate web of logistics but with the proper event planning team, you can put together a five-start carnival just about anywhere. Even your very own backyard.’’

See The New England Center for Circus Arts.

This 1945 Rodgers & Hammerstein Broadway musical is set on the Maine Coast. Rodgers said later it was his favorite of all his shows.

Dangerous game

“Playing Games with Goya,’’ by Alexandra Rozenman, at Brickbottom Artists Association, Somerville, Mass., July 14-Aug. 20.

Her Web site says:

“Alexandra (Alya) Rozenman was born in 1971 in Moscow. She was classically trained at the Soviet Academy of Arts for two years and later studied with dissident artists, well-known today, from Moscow’s underground movement. While still a teenager, she became part of Moscow’s alternative scene of the 1980s. After immigrating to the U.S., she spent the early 1990s in New York, becoming a part of what later became the International Art Alliance on the Lower East Side and earning her BFA from SUNY in 1993. She later relocated to Boston, earning an MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts in 1998, and studying with Gerry Bergstein and Robert Ferrandini. Her paintings and drawings blend the styles and symbols of folk art, Russian Underground Conceptualism, illustration, and Jewish art.

“She was the recipient of the MacDowell Foundation Fellowship in 2006.’’

And what a year!

“Thinking One Year Back” (detail). by Alexandra Rozenman in her joint show, “Unfolding Roads,’’ with Nora Valdez, at Fountain Street Fine Art, Boston, through Feb. 28.

The gallery says:

“This exhibit features the paintings and collages of Rozenman, as well as the sculptures and drawings of Valdez. Both artists are immigrants, from the former Soviet Union and Argentina, respectively, and this part of their identities is reflected in their artwork. Rozenman's pieces are large and expansive, depicting a vast world of images, symbols, history and famous artworks. Her early life in Russia influences her approach to beauty and wonder to this day, and her search for belonging forms the core of her art.’’

Foie gras on the left

"Our First Harvest in Paris" by Somerville, Mass.-based Alexandra Rozenman, at Fountain Street Fine Art, Boston, through Nov. 30.

'Surreal waiting game'

Left, “So Sophisticated” (oil on canvas), by Alexandra Rozenman; right, “Witness’’ (oil on canvas), by Anita Loomis, in the show “Untold Stories, at Fountain Street Fine Art, Boston, through Dec. 23.
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To see a video of the show “Untold Stories,’’ by Anita Loomis and Alexandra Rozenman, please hit this link.

This is the show’s last weekend at Fountain Street Fine Art, Boston.

From Artscope’s review:

“The immediate condition and activity conveyed within the pictures made by painters Anita Loomis and Alexandra Rozenman is extrapolation. …{T}he paintings allow and welcome conjecture. The artists have created environments that focus the viewer’s attention towards inference, encouraging the seer to intellectually step into and become part of vague spaces and curious scenes — to participate in a surreal guessing game.

“For the viewer, the stories within the compositions are open-ended and puzzling, being directed in possibility by the depicted visual objects and glimpses of human form. We approach these compositions by asking what’s going on. Some paintings depict relatable imagery such as domestic interiors, landscapes and active scenes, while others are expressive and fantastical with abstracted and speculative shapes and figures.’’

He went to the airport

"Waiting for Isaac Levitan After School'' (oil on canvas),  by Alexandra Rozenman, at Fountain Street Fine Art, Boston.