"CONCEPTS IN GLASS"
New Art Center
61 Washington Park
Newtonville, Massachusetts
April 11, 2011 - May 15, 2011
by Meredith Cutler (for Artscope Magazine)
Article excerpt:
The New Art Center in Newtonville, Mass. has a 33-year tradition of scheduling its main gallery with group exhibitions curated by an exhibiting artist or independent curator. Their spring exhibition, "Concepts in Glass," presents the work of four Boston-area glass artists exploring their seductive medium conceptually through sculpture.
Curated by glass artist Hillary Faccio, "Concepts in Glass" features her work alongside that of three current faculty members at her alma mater, the Massachusetts College of Art and Design: professor Alan Klein, assistant professor James McLeod and visiting professor Christopher G. Watts.
Aptly situated in the center's rehabbed 19th century church gallery with its arched, stained glass windows, the exhibit is mounted on both wall and pedestal.
Chris Watts claims the church's former alter for "Grave Dust," a large wall installation formed from cascading curtains of blown and slumped glass. According to the identification tag, the transparent glass is suffused with "granite dust obtained from the carving of deceased persons' names into grave markers." Making pointed use of found materials to address issues of race, class and perceived and agreed value, Watts' work is highly conceptual. His detailed material lists act as one entry point for the viewer.
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Image: James McLeod, "Memory Container 12", 2006, glass.
