Art and Music Collide: No One Hurt
South Lee – On Saturday, December 6, at the St. Francis Gallery on Route 102 David Reed and his Drunk Bay Cigar Box Guitars (CBGs) will be performing blues, folkrock and a few Caribbean tunes on a variety of cigar box guitars and homemade percussion during the opening of “Secrets of the Season,” an exhibit of 30 local, regional and international painters, sculptors and woodworkers. “Witness some strangely wonderful music intentionally collide with visual art,” Reed advises. “Perchance, you’ll even purchase some of it for holiday gift giving while you mingle with the artists, partaking of refreshments.”
The Mingle & Nosh runs from 3 to 6 p.m. “No one gets hurt,” Reed adds. “We promise.”
And if you miss Reed and the CBGs on Saturday, you can catch them Sunday, at Dottie’s Coffee Lounge, 444 North St., in Pittsfield, playing during Dottie’s once-a-month Domingo Brunch. 10 to 1 p.m. No cover, no regrets.
For more information on Reed and his CBGs, click here for www.tambouraproductions.com
— D.S.
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‘Knotted Anatomies,’ Martha Bone exhibit at Simon’s Rock
Great Barrington — The Hillman-Jackson Gallery at Bard College at Simon’s Rock is showing Knotted Anatomies, an exhibition by New York artist Martha Bone, through Thursday, January 22.
An artist’s reception will take place on Saturday, December 6 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The centerpiece of the exhibition is an installation that embodies the symbolic and psychological nature of Bone’s work. Called “Aplastic Mutation,” it consists of nylon stockings hung from the ceiling and filled with paraffin pastilles and grinder salt until they become massive skins that are stretched, tied, knotted, twisted and layered. Using the weight and volume of the materials to dictate the shape, Bone lets gravity pull the shapes down, and allows time to add wrinkles, lumps and bulges.
“I’m interested in how the human body continually reshapes itself by what it does and does not absorb,” says Bone. Another group of works on paper also follow the same trajectory, using charcoal, conte crayon, graphite and gesso, Bone uses line as a tool to probe a space. In a protracted process of constructing and obliterating, an image finally emerges.
“I see the human body as not only an entryway to a vast mysterious universe, but also as a prison that traps, conceals, and confines,” Bone explains.
Martha Bone received her BFA in painting and illustration from Syracuse University, and she also studied dance at the Martha Graham School and performance/movement/sound with Meredith Monk. She recently showed three large installations at the Ann Street Gallery in Newburgh, N.Y. as well as took part in a group show at the Kingston Museum of Contemporary Art (KMOCA).
To see more of Martha Bone’s work visit her website at www.marthaboneart.com .
For more information, a complete list of events at Simon’s Rock, directions, or parking instructions, visit the College’s frequently updated website www.simons-rock.edu/events.
— D.S.
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Laird White reads from ‘Barefoot Walking’ at The Bookstore
Lenox – Long-time Lenox resident Laird White will be reading from her newly printed book of poetry, “Barefoot Walking,” Saturday, December 6 at 1 p.m. at The Bookstore, 11 Housatonic St. The reading will be followed by a book signing and light fare reception.
The Bookstore owner Matthew Tannenbaum describes Laird as “a long-time devoted friend of The Bookstore and we are long-time admirers of her as well. We are elated to have her share her beautiful words, humor and wisdom with all of you this Saturday at our special celebration in her honor – and we say it’s about time!”
Poetry is Laird’s first love, and though she has had many loves since, including comedy writing for cabarets, memoir, and, of jokes – she says “that I can’t (and usually don’t) wait to share the jokes.”
“I can’t wait to tell our guests how happy and proud I am to host this publication party reading of poems from her very first collection,” adds Tannenbaum. “We congratulate Laird on her extraordinary book of poems.”
— D.S.
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‘The White Art Show’ at Emporium
Great Barrington – The Emporium Antiques & Art Center is currently showing Andrew Zdziarski’s abstract paintings that are psychological in nature. The work explores dreams, memories, notions and anxieties as a source of freedom and self-discovery. Zdziarski creates vivid inner landscapes, with their graffiti-like words, scratches and scrawls — they are painted in a raw manner and evoke a truthful and authentic representation of a moment. His process is impulsive and strictly applied to recycled and found materials.
Zdziarski, who lives in Southfield with his wife and their two children, is one of at least 11 artists who will display their work in “The White Art Show” at the Emporium Antiques & Art Center at 319 Main St. The show will run throughout December, with an opening this Saturday, December 6, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Other artists include: Kelly Young, Sherry Steiner, Susan McVeety, Lisa Merullo, Harry Lazare, Sandy Kreger, Rick Costello, Janet Cooper, Roselle Chartock and Bethy Bacon.
— H.B.
