Art inflation

From Claire Ashley’s show “Radiant Beasts,’’ at the Lamont Gallery, at Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H., through Nov. 18
 

The gallery explains:

‘Claire Ashley’s large-scale inflatables explode the possibilities of painting. Her practice devours the traditional mediums of sculpture, installation, painting, and costume, spitting back hybrid ‘bodies’ that are moveable, wearable, and deliciously preposterous. Made from PVC-coated canvas tarps, spray paint, and small blower fans, Ashley’s work is a complex, humorous mash-up of fine art meets bouncy house.

“The artist resists and pushes against the traditional norms of painting, disrupting the straight edges and flat, fixed nature of the discipline by creating bulbous, malleable inflatables that alter themselves to fit new environments. Displayed as site-conscious interventions that shape shift as they playfully wedge into and squish between architectural spaces, this exhibition expands beyond the walls of Lamont Gallery. Ashley’s monumentally scaled works emerge inside academic buildings and spill out onto campus, surprising the viewer and prompting questions such as, what the object is, how it appeared, and where it came from.’’

Art, not anguish

“Teardrop (After Robert Irwin)” (polished stainless steel with mirror finished, halogen lighting), by Pakistani-American artist Anila Quayyum Agha, in the group show “Tradition Interrupted,” at the Lamont Gallery, at Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H., through Dec. 10.

— Courtesy of Talley Dunn Gallery, in Dallas

The gallery says that each artist in this exhibition was tasked to "weave contemporary ideas with traditional art and craft," with the aim of bringing experiences of their cultures and marrying them to different mediums that complement each other.

An ‘eerily prescient’ show

“Deeper Than You Imagined” (wood and paint), by Sachiko Akiyama, in the group show “Being and Feeling (Alone, Together),’’ on view online at Phillips Exeter (N.H.) Academy’s Lamont Gallery through July 31.

Lamont Gallery Director and Curator Lauren O'Neal  said: "It was impossible to know that when this exhibition was finally realized, that it would become eerily prescient, that it would forecast a felt and lived experience, rather than merely a curatorial one."

The artwork on view encompasses a wide variety of media, including painting, sculpture, photography, visual and audio performances.

The gallery says: “While we all hope to soon be physically together with others without fear, ‘Being & Feeling (Alone, Together)’ provides us with cathartic emotional release, instilling hope and appreciation for our humanity even at the worst of times. To check out “Being & Feeling (Alone, Together),’’ visit exeter.edu/lamont-gallery/being-feeling-alone-together.

Investigating American identity

The gallery, part of the famous prep school in Exeter, N.H., says the show “features provocative works by Becky Alley and Melissa Vandenberg, who use common domestic items to explore themes of patriotism, war, and commemoration in our current cultural environment. Whether tongue-in-cheek, or an outright adverse critique, the artists focus on American identity, and our relationship to what we believe and why.’’

Reds and Greys

From B. Lynch’s mixed-media show “The Way of the World,’’ through Aug. 2 at the Lamont Gallery, at Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H.

The gallery says:

“Way of the World’’ is an “exhibition of an imaginary time-bending universe echoing our own society, reflecting choices of wealth, power and work.’’

“B. Lynch’s world is miniaturized, viewers will be delighted with the doll-house feel, yet it isn’t cozy. The dioramas, prints, paintings and figurines capture the essence of our polarized society. The project theatrically posits two factions of human existence. Her work raises questions and with the help of visitor participation may even start to provide some useful ideas about how we organize our desire for wealth and our need for dignity in purposeful doing.

“The ‘Reds,’ placed in the stylish 18th Century, have all the money, the best stuff and seemingly steer events. The larger ‘Greys’’ faction, living in a dystopian setting are the doers, they have work but little else. So, who’s on top? Revolutions echo down the years, philosophers extol the dignity of work, everybody wants riches and leisure. How do we cope?’’

Kentridge at Exeter

From the show “William Kentridge: Universal Archive,’’ at the Lamont Gallery, at Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H., Jan. 11-March 9. The gallery says:

Renowned South African artist William Kentridge shares new work inspired during the writing of his Norton Lectures at Harvard in 2012. In this expanding series, a familiar personal iconography is revisited - coffee pots, typewriters, cats, trees, nudes and other imagery; an intimate thematic repertoire appearing in art and stage productions throughout the artist’s career. Meticulously based on ink sketches, over 75 linocut prints shift from identifiable subject matter to deconstructed images of abstract marks.’’

Phillips Exeter is one of the two most famous American prep schools, the other being its great rival, Phillips Academy, in Andover, Mass. The first is usually just called “Exeter,’’ the second “Andover’’.

The two schools were founded by the Phillips family, Andover by Samuel Phillips, Jr., in 1778, and Exeter by his uncle John Phillips, in 1781. The two schools are 37 miles apart and share similar seals and mottoes as well. The novel A Separate Peace was inspired by writer John Knowles’s days as a student at Exeter in the 1940s.

Reconceiving feminism in exquisite Exeter, N.H.

Digital photograph by Ella Cooper, in the show "Representing Feminism(s),'' at the Lamont Gallery at Phillips Exeter Academy through April 21.

The gallery says: "This exhibition is an exploration of the nature, utility, and meaning of feminism by over 30 contemporary artists working in a variety of mediums. The intent  was "to consider how feminism can be represented and, when necessary, reconceived."

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Exeter is a gorgeous town with a deep pre-Revolutionary War history and close to the vast and beautiful marshes and rocky coast of New Hampshire's small seacoast.

Water Street in downtown Exeter.

-- Photo by Rglowacky1 

Looking toward Great Bay at low tide.

Man and mutations

 

"Mutation: Specimen''  (textiles) by LAURA MORRISON, in the "Lush Life'' show at the Lamont Gallery, in Exeter, N.H.

The gallery notes say: "The artwork in this exhibition explores the natural world and the effect that humans have on it, encouraging us to cultivate our imagination and consider our own ecological footprint by expressing the beauty and fragility of our world.''

Happier when you keep your head down

 

"Eleven Plus One'' (photo), by BILL FRANSON, in the  group show "Strange Days: The Uncanny, the Curious and Quite Possibly Magical'' at the Lamont Gallery at Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H., through Dec. 18.

Face mirrors the soul?

 

"Ang San Suu Kyi,'' by MARIANA COOK,  in the show "Justice: Faces of the Human Rights Revolution,'' at the Lamont Gallery, at Phillips Exeter Academy, in Exeter, N.H., through July 31.

The Burmese human-rights advocate has a kindly face but then so have many murderous dictators, such as Stalin and Mao. Others, such as Syrian dictator/mass murderer Bashar Assad, simply look bland.

Community-based collage

 

Handmade collage paper on bristol board by student named David in the "Catalyst: Work from Community-Based Arts Centers'' at Lamont Gallery, at Phillips Exeter Academy, in Exeter, N.H.