Complicated backyard

“Backyard” (acrylic, oil, acrylic-based spray paint, paint markers and paper on canvas), by Bob Dilworth, in his show “Bob Dilworth: Backyard’’ at the Newport (R.I.) Art Museum through Dec. 31.

Partial gift of Dr. Joseph A. Chazan and partial museum purchase. Photo courtesy Newport Art Museum.

The museum says:

“Dilworth ‘draws on the memories and experiences from the [his] life in Providence and home of Lawrenceville, 50 miles south of Richmond, Virginia.; Dilworth describes his artwork as tackling ‘issues of race, culture, ethnicity, family, myths, folktales, and religious beliefs through metaphor and allegory." ‘

In the shadow of....

“No Bed of Feathers” (polyester fabrics and feathers), by Warwick,R.I.-based Saberah Malik, in the group show “Lights in the Tunnel: Creating Art in the Shadow of COVID-19,’’ at the Newport Art Museum through Feb. 7.

Senior curator Francine Weiss says. "In the era of COVID-19, we can’t predict—or see—the proverbial 'light at the end of the tunnel,' but we do have glimmers of light inside it. ‘‘

Landscape in art

“Sunset/Change (Autumn Section)’’ (1861, oil on canvas), by George Inness, in the show “Complex Terrrain(s),’’ at the Newport Art Museum, through Sept. 27.

The show examines landscape in art and how the genre has evolved over the years.

Hit this link for more information.

Films informed by Apartheid

A sequence from Stereoscope, an animated short film with sound, by William Kentridge. Courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery, New York. The film will be shown at the Newport Art Museum through March 10. This is the eighth installment of Mr. Kentridge’s decade-long film series about the character Soho Eckstein, who represents the archetypal white South African businessman of the post-Apartheid era, and is also often interpreted as an alter ego of Mr. Kentridge, who says, "I have never tried to make illustrations of Apartheid, but the drawings and films are certainly spawned by and feed off the brutalized society left in its wake. I am interested in a political art, that is to say, an art of ambiguity, contradiction, uncompleted gestures and uncertain endings."

Beware when it stops

"Restless Vapor'' (painting), by Cristi Rinklin, in her current  show, "Paramnesiac," at the Newport (R.I.) Art Museum. The museum cites  her "flowing and luxurious work, which uses swelling shapes and clouds of fog and smoke to create a dreamlike reality. "

Where anyone could be a critic

"Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in the Grand Gallery of the Louvre, 1699'' (engraving), by A. Hadamart, in the show
"Modernity vs. Tradition: Art at the Parisian Salon 1750-1900," at the Redwood Library and Athenaeum, Newport, through April 8. The Salon is an annual art exhibition started by the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture  to foster artistic competition and let  common folk critically view and analyze the work of its Academicians. By the mid-18th Century, it had become a public forum for intense debate on  art and politics.

Quiet interior

"The Quilter's Daughter, 2012-14'' (oil on linen), by Christopher W. Benson, in the show "Pictures & Windows: The Paintings of Christopher W. Benson from 1975 to 2017,'' at the Newport Art Museum, through Dec. 31. The museum says his scenes are like a less dramatic version of Norman Rockwell's works, showing snapshots of American life that might help show what we have in common in a deeply divided nation.

Then call your maid

"Rise to Meet the Dawn'' (watercolor), by Peter Hussey, in the show "Stops Along the Way,'' at the Newport Art Museum, through Aug. 6. Mr. Hussey finds immense beauty in old New England buildings.

Until then, keep swimming

"Where There Is No Boat, I Will Put a Boat'' (photo using a large-format camera and printed in platinum, a style popular in the 19t Century), by Ron Cowie, in the group show "New Light Through Old Windows,'' at the Newport (R.I.) Art Museum through April 16.

River makes up in beauty what it lacks in miles

 

"September on the Lieutenant River'' {in Connecticut} (watercolor mounted on linen), by NANCY FRIESE, in her show "Encircling Trees and Radiant Skies,''  through May 3 at the Newport Art Museum, represented by Cade Tompkins Projects.

Gorgeous, but at this time of the year we'd prefer to visualize May on the Lieutenant River. That's even though September is perhaps consistently the prettiest month in these parts.

The Lieutenant River, best known as a venue for painters and photographers, is a 3.7-mile-long  tidal river in Old Lyme, Conn. It joins the Connecticut River in the estuary, just above the point where that river flows into Long Island Sound. This is a gorgeous part of the Nutmeg State. I'm surprised  that the hedge funders haven't bought much of it yet.

-- Robert Whitcomb