Diane Bronstein: underdressed

December 11, 2010- January 5, 2011

Montserrat College of Art Gallery is pleased to present Diane Bronstein’s installation, underdressed, curated by Lydia Gordon. The closing exhibition of 2010 in Montserrat College of Art’s alternative display space Frame 301, Bronstein’s arrangement of handmade underwear, bras, and slips suggest a narrative to each article of clothing, hinting at the vulnerability yet desirability of its wearers.

 

The artist’s creation of intimate apparel derives from her interest in privacy and how we identify ourselves by covering the body. The detailed sketching, clothing design and delicate craftsmanship of each piece allows the artist to explore the closest layer of clothing to our bodies and its protective connotation. By exposing what is usually covered, the artist brings intrigue to each piece, its owner, and their relationship.

 

A visual and conceptual pastiche, underdressed transforms the storefront gallery into a scene of laundry lines. underdressed is constructed from hand-sewn paper clothing, sketches of figure drawings, and sky-blue paint, drawing connections to the everyday surroundings on Cabot Street. By incorporating elements of the laundromat, art school practice, and skyline, underdressed rearranges physical characteristics of our community. By utilizing the unique perspective Frame 301 offers viewers, Bronstein hangs her pieces in a zig-zag fashion, ultimately proposing a three-dimensional, unconventional looking experience. While the artist’s process involved the layering of pencil, charcoal, and paper, underdressed ultimately strips down to the idea of physical identity, modesty, and desirability. 

 

Diane Bronstein is a Boston-based artist focused on the creation of paper clothing, inspired by her attendance to life-drawing sessions at the Arlington Center for the Arts . Bronstein received her B.F.A in Graphic Design and Illustration at Carnegie-Mellon University and currently works as an exhibition designer for traveling, temporary and permanent exhibitions at the Museum of Science in Boston. 

For more information: http://montserrat.edu/galleries/frame%20301/

Yassie Goldie & GJYD's "i want to soX yuO"

October 5 – November 5

Originally a storefront window, Frame 301 was the perfect space for GJYD to launch their most recent campaign, which includes commercials for yuO soX memorabilia that glow from within gold television sets and yuO soX merchandise available for purchase.

With an interest in shedding light on social injustice and promoting change rather than promoting themselves, it was clear that GJYD needed a figurehead. In 2008, this responsibility was given to Mr. Yassy Goldie. The group utilizes Goldie’s public persona for promotion and representation so the individual identities of the collaborative members may remain anonymous. I want to soX you, a campaign inspired by Boston’s beloved baseball team, is Goldie’s attempt at introducing himself to and connecting with the city of Boston.

By way of the internet, social media, guerilla performances and public installations, GJYD have exhibited their “death metal glam ghettotech” aesthetics throughout the regional and digital art communities. The group’s egalitarian street art style and process symbolize their dedication to targeting closed-mindedness, prejudice and hatred through truth, irony, humor and satire in the most public spheres.

Raul Gonzalez: The Gangs all Here, Minus a few featuring El Frijol, El Negrito and the Angel

September 2 – October 4

A Founding member of Somerville art collective Miracle 5, Gonzalez work references histories through the aesthetic of antiquated cartooning. In his most recent work, stereotypical cartoon character archetypes are used to encourage a socio-historical critique.

“The Gangs all here, Minus a Few featuring El Frijol, El Negrito and the Angel” refers to the nicknames used as terms of “endearment” to those with darker or lighter skin tones in the Mexican culture. The characters are fictional and drawn using the same shapes but the colors with which they are painted changes their interpretation. The clouds and the colors distract you from seeing the shape in it's true form.

"Cartoon characters are like water in that they can take any form that we imagine for them as well as survive any treatment. They have been dehumanized and can therefore be tortured and humiliated without any lasting degree of guilt or consequence before disappearing from our memories altogether." - Raul Gonzalez

Karen Moss: The Commuter

August 4th - 30th

The Commuter, an installation by Boston-based artist Karen Moss exhibits her recognizable hybrid characters cavorting through imaginary landscapes. In this site-specific work, Moss' imagery sets up a comparison of the urban and the bucolic. Both scenes merge retro aesthetics with the characteristics of contemporary street art to depict the experience of popular culture in both metropolitan and rural environments.

Meltdown

June 1st - July 5th

As Part of 2010 annual Encaustic Conference, wax scraps were collected from attendees and installed in Frame 301.

Brandy Wolfe - "Stuffed"

Stuffed, Boston-based arist Brandy Wolfe's installation is in our space until April 6th. The installation includes family photos the artist found from the 1930’s to the 1950’s. They are accompanied by her own sewn stuffed animals that mimic the memories shown in the photographs.

Wolfe’s exhibit focuses on the connection between individual memories with specific material objects. The piece began with Wolfe purchasing displaced family photographs from online auctions, focusing on those that depicted children with stuffed toys. By recreating the inanimate characters from these photographs, pinning some on the wall and letting the others pile up below, she has put on display a dissection of these memories and alluded to the difficulty of actually recreating them. Like the displays in a natural history museum, Wolfe’s piece reflects the malleability of collective memory.

(Wolfe now residing in Brighton, MA has been featured in many exhibits throughout the U.S. She received her BFA in Painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art and Masters in Art History from Ohio State University. Wolfe has recently exhibited her work at the MCLA Gallery 51 in North Adams, MA, KSpace Contemporary in Corpus Christie, TX, the Atlantic Works Gallery in Boston, MA and will be installing work in the group exhibition Yellow at the Boston Children’s Museum this year.)

Autumn Patricia Ahn - "Hallow Halos"

Autumn Patricia Ahn's piece, Hallow Halos was the first exhibition of 2010 in Frame 301!

Ahn’s intricate work draws in the attention of viewers by reflecting on and incidentally playing a part in the experience of a shared visual landscape.

A multilayered piece in conception and construction, Hallow Halos transformed our storefront gallery into a temple of coiled figures and messages. This powerful, celebratory shrine commemorates the human response to our daily overstimulation of imagery. Ahn’s work uses narrative visual languages often found in religious iconography, offering her viewers signs, symbols and clues to create a unified statement.

Hallow Halos is constructed from layers of neon paint, string, masonite and vinyl. Utilizing every perspective available in this unique space, Ahn adhered vinyl to the outside of the glass to create a foreground, designed an altar of solid color and writhing characters on the wall itself and constructed elements that hang in the space between the glass and dry wall.

(Ahn is Somerville-based artist, current working as part of the collective artist studios at 9 Olive Square, Somerville, MA. Since acquiring her BFA in Painting at Boston University in 2008, Ahn has shown regularly throughout the Boston area. She is sought after for her ability to create large, enaging images, such as the commissioned murals she has recently completed with Underground Snowboards/Indoor Skate Ramp in Boston, MA and Firebeat Dancesport Studios in Allston, MA. She was also recently included in the Hey I Know That Guy exhibit at the Washington Street Art Center and Off-the-Wall Paper at Gallery 5 in Boston, MA.)

Wendy Kawabata - "Withdrawn from Circulation"

We had the pleasure of exhibiting Kawabata's Withdrawn from Circulation from November 5th through December 1st. The Hawaii-based artist's piece was constructed out of books pulled from circulation from Honolulu libraries, which Kawabata bought for a dollar a piece. The books are exaggeratedly dog-eared, their interiors becoming exposed and rearranged.

“The interior of a book is traditionally an individual and private experience,” the artist explains, “for these books….the private experience is no longer accessible. They have been quieted, now the barnacles growing on library walls as people move towards new ways of engaging with text”.

Kawabata’s interest in topics of interior and exterior mimic the underlying themes of Frame 301 so we were excited to exhibit this work in our storefront window which exits as a gateway between many public and private spheres.

(Kawabata received her BFA in Art History at Massachusetts College of Art and completed her MFA in Studio Art at the University of New Mexico. She is currently based in Honolulu, where she is an Assistant Professor with the department of Art and Art history with the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Kawabata has shown regularly over the last ten years in both group and solo shows nationally and has made public presentations a regular part of her exhibition process.)