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Perennials and obsessions
The 2005 DeCordova Annual, and "Over + Over" in Andover
BY RANDI HOPKINS

The DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park’s annual show of regional talent is insistently "non-thematic" — that is, organizers Rachel Lafo, Nick Capasso, George Fifield, and Alexandra Novina look for quality and diversity rather than a common topic. But it’s always hard to resist viewing the show in terms of connections and resonances.

The 2005 DeCordova Annual, which opens April 30 with work by 10 artists from four New England states, explores subject matter from international politics to hearth and home using materials from sawed-up couches to feathers. One "theme" that pops up concerns the new concepts of "drawing" and "line." Lalla A. Essaydi’s photography addresses the complex issue of Arab female identity in part through the use of intricate Islamic calligraphy marked onto clothing and skin with henna. Michael Lewy’s installation examines the business-jargon world of PowerPoint presentation, with bullet-point outlines and clip art. Milan Klic’s delicate three-dimensional "vehicles" are so spare, they seem to be drawn in space using bamboo and thread.

Geometry and trippy optical effects also figure, for example in Barbara Takenaga’s swirling abstract paintings and in Mark Wethli’s massive installation, which takes over the towering elevator-shaft wall of the DeCordova’s Grand Staircase. And don’t miss Jean Blackburn’s deconstruction of your comfy living room, Sally Moore’s mini wall sculptures (they look like 3-D landscapes), Laurie Sloan’s recombinant drawings, Nao Tomii’s "listening" flora and fauna, and Nadya Volicer’s liquid passageway, all of which are poised to play well with one another.

Speaking of sums and parts: "Over + Over: Passion for Process," which opens at the Addison Gallery of American Art on April 30, unites 13 artists whose output could be identified as "Extreme Craft" — obsessive handiwork by artists using ordinary materials and traditional hobby and craft skills in the most time- and labor-intensive manner possible. Like Tom Friedman, who hand-folds 36 one-dollar bills to construct — a one-dollar bill! Or Jennifer Maestre, who’ll spend more than 40 hours sharpening, shortening, and drilling 400 pencils to string as weird beads, or the master of beading herself, Liza Lou. There are, of course, many interesting social, political, historical, and art-historical reasons why these folks would do such things, but the bottom line is that the work is fascinating to look at.

The 2005 DeCordova Annual Exhibition is at the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, 51 Sandy Pond Road in Lincoln, April 30 through July 31, with an opening reception on May 6 from 6 to 9 p.m.; call (781) 259-8355. "Over + Over: Passion for Process" is at the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy in Andover April 30 through July 31; call (978) 749-4015.


Issue Date: April 22 - 28, 2005
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