Using beach debris to make some statements
“Five Articles Selected for the Poly S. Tyrene Memorial Maritime Museum” (painted salvaged plastic, ink, wax), in the show “Duke Riley: What the Waves May Bring,’’ at the Cahoon Museum of American Art, Cotuit, Mass., through Sept. 14.
The museum says Mr. Riley “transforms salvaged plastic collected from beaches and waterways into intricate mosaics and sculptures inspired by maritime history and folk traditions. The exhibition features finely crafted artworks that reference 19th Century nautical history and maritime crafts — such as scrimshaw, fishing lures, and sailors’ valentines—yet are made from contemporary debris. Through these unexpected materials, Riley offers a striking commentary on corporate greed, ocean degradation, and the stories we choose to preserve.’’
Quilted news
“Lost Village” (commercial and hand-dyed cotton fabrics, commercial bias tape, machine pieced, appliqued and quilted), by Joe Cunningham, in his show “Quilts for These Times,’’ at the Cahoon Museum of American Art, Cotuit, Mass., through Sept. 15.
This series of 10 quilts marks a turning point for the artist as each quilt addresses current events.
Beating the heat, if it ever comes
“The Swimmer” (oil on panel), by Lee Roscoe, at the Cahoon Museum of American Art, Cotuit, Mass. The painter is based on Cape Cod. When you think of swimming on Cape Cod, you think of beaches but there are many fine fresh-water kettle ponds to swim in on the peninsula, and the water is a lot warmer than the ocean and bay water.
Drive-by whimsy on the Cape
Section of the “Garden Grove’’ installation by Alfred Glover, at the Cahoon Museum of American Art, in Cotuit, Mass. (on Cape Cod), through the end of the year.
The museum, which is still closed for in-person tours because of COVID-19,
explains that “Garden Grove,’’ part of the museum’s Streetside series, is a drive-by exhibition visible from the street along Route 28. It consists of “whimsical tree sculptures made of metal and wood, marked by giant ginkgo and philodendron leaves, beautiful flowers and strange yet endearing animals like nesting birds and spotted dogs.’’
Cape Sad
"The Perfect Tree,'' by MARIELUISE HUTCHINSON, in the "Small Works'' show at the Cahoon Museum of American Art, in Cotuit, Mass. (on Cape Cod) through Dec. 22. Green and white work well together. But usually it is brown and gray on the Cape in the winter, as the salt air and relatively mild temperatures assure that the ground is usually bare there in the winter, but with near-constant wind because of the presence or nearness of storms coming up from the southwest. Rather grim, except for the light traffic compared to the summer.