Home Design Events, Winter 2014
Courtesy of Arden Gallery (Bird’s Eye (Stills), by Sherrie Wolf, 2013, Oil on Canvas)
Different Strokes
For her vibrant, dreamlike work—on display at the Arden Gallery this December—Sherrie Wolf paints elaborate still lifes against backgrounds re-created from classic masterworks. The resulting pieces are surreal juxtapositions of classic and modern art.
12/3–12/31, 129 Newbury St., Boston, 617-247-0610, ardengallery.com.
Photograph Courtesy of Gallery Naga (Kensley Mckie)
Animal Nature
Studio furniture artist Judy Kensley McKie, a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, incorporates animal forms into much of her work, resulting in pieces that look as if they might come to life at a moment’s notice. Items from her cast-bronze and woodwork collections will be on display at Gallery Naga, where she frequently exhibits, through December 14.
67 Newbury St., Boston, 617-267-9060, gallerynaga.com.
Photograph Courtesy of Hamill Gallery of Tribal Art
Out of Africa
The Hamill Gallery has one of the largest private collections of tribal art in the world, with about 40,000 pieces displayed in rotation at the gallery and on the website. This winter’s “Gotta Dance” exhibition is a burst of color and costume, showcasing some 50 pieces of African ceremonial clothing. Many of these creations are also accompanied by wooden masks from the Yoruba and Igbo tribes of Nigeria, which use them during ancestral-heritage celebrations.
12/7–2/1, 2164 Washington St., Boston, 617-442-8204, hamillgallery.com.
Photograph Courtesy of Mark Dorrian and Frédéric Pousin (Seeing from Above)
Such Great Heights
Get a bird’s-eye view of cities and landscape throughout history in Seeing from Above: The Aerial View in Visual Culture. This unique volume, edited by Mark Dorrian and Frédéric Pousin, uses aerial imagery to explore how we see things through the mediums of film, maps, photography, and geography.
Out 12/24, $27, I. B. Tauris.
Photograph by Matthew Williams (from Remodelista: A Manual for the Considered Home, by Julie Carlson)
Modern Remodeling
Massachusetts native Julie Carlson honed her design and writing chops at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies, in New York, and as a member of the editorial staff at the New Yorker. Now editor of the design website Remodelista, she’s finally culled her aesthetic into one definitive volume. Remodelista: A Manual for the Considered Home explores the design of 12 houses, accompanied by kitchen and bath breakdowns and DIY guides.
Out 11/5, $38, Artisan.
Photograph by Claire Iltis (False Bloom, by Christina Ramberg, 1971, Acrylic on Masonite)
Body Language
Playing with conventional ideas of beauty and femininity, the late Chicago artist Christina Ramberg spent her career examining society’s expectations of women. This ICA exhibition focuses on Ramberg’s provocative and graphic paintings from 1971 to 1981.
Runs until 3/2, Institute of Contemporary Art, 100 Northern Ave., Boston, 617-478-3100, icaboston.org.
EXHIBITS
“Dawit L. Petros: Sense of Place”
A 2007 graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts master’s program, Petros will exhibit his abstract photo installations and sculpture at the MFA through April.
Runs until 4/13, 465 Huntington Ave., Boston, 617-267-9300, mfa.org.
Kimberly MacNeille
The Beth Urdang Gallery showcases this local artist’s new oil-on-canvas landscapes and waterfall paintings.
11/26–1/11, 129 Newbury St., Boston, 781-264-1121, bethurdanggallery.com.
“Universal Truths”
Photographs and postcards from the likes of Anna Bella Geiger and Daido Moriyama explore the meaning behind simple human gestures at the Tepper Takayama Fine Arts gallery. Highlights include Shomei Tomatsu’s gelatin silver prints, many of which depict post-war Japan.
12/1–2/28, 20 Park Plaza, Ste. 600, Boston, 617-542-0557, teppertakayamafinearts.com.
BOOKS
Abbott Miller: Design and Content
This monograph is the first to chronicle Miller’s expansive work bridging graphic design and text in four areas: books, exhibitions, magazines, and brand identity.
Out 12/10, $60, Princeton Architectural Press.
Paradise Planned: The Garden Suburb and the Modern City
Robert A. M. Stern, dean of the Yale School of Architecture, and coauthors David Fishman and Jacob Tilove delve into the history of the suburb in this volume covering 18th-century English villages, modern U.S. city planning, and everything in between.
Out 12/3, $95, The Monacelli Press.
Traditional Architecture: Timeless Building for the Twenty-First Century
This offering by Alireza Sagharchi, which features a forward by the Prince of Wales, covers 130 projects showcasing the continuation of local, sustainable, vernacular architectural practices in modern times.
Out 2/18, $65, Rizzoli.
Doing Democracy: Activist Art and Cultural Politics
Edited by Nancy Love and Mark Mattern, this innovative book highlights photography, theater, cartoons, and more that examine the political ideologies of democracy.
Out in December, $95, SUNY Press.
