Bernay Fine Art’s “Two to Tango” on view through June 12
GREAT BARRINGTON — Bernay Fine Art’s “Two to Tango,” a group show featuring the work of 12 artists who happen to be six couples, will be on view through Sunday, June 12.
Janet Rickus is committed to natural light falling on an arrangement of things on a tabletop, including arrays of pottery, citrus, and tablecloth. Like family photos, her objects pose, as if to say, this is who we are. Close observation is the rule in the work of Sue Muskat and Warner Friedman, as well. Muskat represents classic items as “figures” in a field. There is nothing lowly (though there is something nostalgic) about these objects when Muskat’s steady line and exacting color choice present them. Friedman’s landscapes, as if perceived through window or porch structure, are accurate sidereal accounts of light and shadow as well as complex one-shot movies.
In Sara Okamura’s use of monarch butterflies and turtles, is she thinking aesthetically or environmentally? Both? By her hand, the paint looks fast, wet, and sensuous; the artworks get their lively charm from her confident brushwork and from her funky daubs of white paint. Jenny Holzer’s plaques isolate single sentences from “Survival,” her text series from 1983-85. Cast in aluminum, featuring bold, sans-serif type in all-caps, they make their statements without fuss. The work on paper, “Fingerpaint 24,” reveals another side of Holzer’s gifts. Abstract daubs of gouache define shapes on paper noticeable for having the words “Top Secret” printed on it.
As a photographic team, Connie Hanson and Russell Peacock, known as Guzman, preserve the image of popular players at their peak. As artists they get close to their subjects, shoot hungrily, then move on, as sensitive in their use of color as in black and white. Bold abstract swaths of paint flow through Mike Glier’s new paintings — lavender and green sweeps of horizontal energy — until these sweeps segue into leaf, stem, and floral cluster. Profusion is what is felt, and profusion is what is seen in these new “action” paintings. Philip Knoll’s bestiary, “Poly Nation,” is a generous array of same-size representations of an ark’s worth of animals, non-hierarchically distributed in a design defined by concentric squares, as if Frank Stella were in the next room playing squash.
When it comes to nature, Katia Santibanez is both keen observer and archangel of storms. Her hand swirls, spins, agitates. That she can slow the spectacle down (as if in slow-motion), allows her the time and attention it takes to share her turbid vision with us. Ever alert to compositional balance and the arbitrary, Hideyo Okamura’s small, smart works —handmade, playful, formally self-aware — are filled with quasi-geometric shapes lined with stripes of multi-colored ink. James Siena knows the center when he sees one, and the periphery as it surrounds. As a lark that became a challenge, he made works that purposefully went against the grain, by de-centering a drawing, driving it far to the left or right, finding itself outside the conventional matte window.
—A.K.
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“Symbiosis” to open June 10 at Berkshire Botanical Garden
STOCKBRIDGE — Starting Friday, June 10, with an opening reception from 5–7 p.m., Berkshire Botanical Garden will present the first of a four-part art exhibition titled “Symbiosis.”
Including outdoor sculptures in the gardens and indoor artwork in the Leonhardt Galleries, “Symbiosis” aesthetically merges art and the botanical world. Curated by renowned art collector Beth Rudin DeWoody, the exhibit will not only focus on the interaction between two organisms that mutually benefit each other, but also speak in a greater sense about the overall interconnectivity of living things.
Chair of The Rudin Family Foundations and executive vice president of Rudin Management, DeWoody is known for her vast art collection, which she houses and exhibits by appointment at The Bunker Artspace in West Palm Beach, Florida. She is vice chair of the Whitney Museum of American Art and life trustee at The New School in New York City.
The outdoor sculpture portion of “Symbiosis” is on exhibit from June 10–October 28. It will feature works by Michele Oka Doner, Daniel Gordon, Brandon Lomax, Yassi Mazandi, Thaddeus Mosley, Ben Wolf Noam, Kiki Smith, Ned Smyth, Wade Tullier, and Erwin Wurm.
The first of three indoor “Symbiosis” exhibits this season in BBG’s Leonhardt Galleries will run from June 10–July 24 and feature works by Jose Alvarez (D.O.P.A.), Ann Craven, Michele Benjamin, William Binnie, DABSMYLA, Robert Davis, E.V. Day, Jordan Doner, Walton Ford, Daniel Gordon, Mimi Gross, Karen Gunderson, Judi Harvest, Steven & William Ladd, Lee Relvas, Kathy Ruttenberg, Sean Mellyn, Dana Sherwood, Alan Sonfist, Ana María Velasco, Paul Villinski, LeRone Wilson, Rob Wynne, and Firooz Zahedi.
The second indoor exhibition will run from July 29–September 11, and feature works by Christopher Adams, Charles Arnoldi, L.C. Armstrong, Madeleine Bialke, David Brooks, Leidy Churchman, Peter Dayton, Margot Glass, Mimi Gross, Paula Hayes, Robert Hawkins, Marc Horowitz, Kathy Klein, Seffa Klein, Nancy Monk, Charles Ray, Tomás Saraceno, Max Hooper Schneider, Katherine Sherwood, Simone Shubuck, Coleen Sterritt, and Tabboo!
The third indoor exhibition will run from September 16–October 30, and feature works by John McAllister, Lou Beach, Helen Chung, Elliot Green, Adler Guerrier, Judi Harvest, Sophia Heymans, Marsia Holzer, Max Jansons, Poppy Jones, Iran Issa-Khan, Lacey Leonard, Matt Murphy, Peter Nadin, Rose Nestler, Jonathan Peck, Alexandra Penney, Rob Raphael, Megumi Shinozaki, Elizabeth Thompson, Celina Teague, Henry Vincent, Gabrielle Vitollo, Shanna Waddell, Faith Wilding, and Anna Zemánková.
—A.K.
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Nutshell Playhouse to perform “Spyjinks” at Ventfort Hall
LENOX — Self-described kooky creator-in-chief Don Jordan of the Nutshell Playhouse will bring his troupe to appear in an original production, “Spyjinks,” premiering for the first time at Ventfort Hall on Sunday, June 12 at 1 p.m. The program is appropriate for children of all ages accompanied by their grown-ups, although kids ages 3–10 will particularly enjoy the show. Tickets are $15 for adults, $7 for children ages 4–17, and free for those age 3 and younger. The performance will be held outside on the mansion grounds, weather permitting. Please bring chairs or blankets.
In “Spyjinks,” four intrepid spies and a parrot named Taco are on their very first mission. They must rescue the beautiful Jolandalinda, who has been kidnapped and hidden on Malumboo, the Island of Very Bad Luck. How will they rescue her? Follow their adventures as they battle the ferocious Malumboosquito, sink up to their bellybuttons in quicksand, get unexpected help from a local llama, defy gravity, learn to speak backwards, and a lot more silliness.
Jordan, artistic director/accompanist, founded the Nutshell Playhouse in 2003. Prior to that, he taught and performed with Teatro Studio and I Gesti di Roma in Italy, and with Mummenschanz on Broadway. He directed the Pan Twilight Circus’ 1995 production of “Creatures of the Lawn” and served as artistic director of the Pickle Family Circus.Jordan has taught as an adjunct faculty member at Smith College, Berkshire Community College, Shakespeare & Company, Barnard College and the Julliard School. He is a graduate of the Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris.
Reservations for the performances are required by calling Ventfort Hall at 413-637-3206.
—A.K.
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Shakespeare & Company to celebrate 45th season with Sapphire Gala
LENOX — Shakespeare & Company will celebrate its 45th Season on Saturday, June 25 at the Sapphire Gala, featuring dinner, dancing, a silent auction, and one-night-only performances of theater, classical music, and dance.
Chaired by Karen A. Kowgios, the evening will begin at 5 p.m. with drinks and passed hors d’oeuvres at The New Spruce Theatre, the Company’s 500-seat amphitheater and newest venue.
The evening will continue with a silent auction, presentation of the 2022 Philip Heller Distinguished Service Award, and performances by both Company artists and other special guests at 6 p.m. Featured entertainment will be offered by Tom Gold Dance accompanied by Boston Symphony Orchestra musicians Catherine French, violin; Liana Zaretsky, violin; Michael Zaretsky, viola, and Mickey Katz, cello. Dinner catered by The Old Inn on The Green will be served under the Gala Tent in the Rose Meadow, with dessert and dancing to follow.
—A.K.
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Lee Sportsmen’s Association announces LSA Higher Education Scholarship winner
LEE — The Lee Sportsmen’s Association Board of Directors and LSA Youth Programs congratulate Lee High School class of 2022 graduate and LSA member Brianna Kelly, who was awarded the LSA Higher Education Scholarship at the membership meeting on June 1.
The one-time award in the amount of $500 goes to a youth who has been a member of LSA for at least two years and has participated in LSA activities for at least one season, such as youth teams or hunts. It is offered to graduating high school senior who have been accepted into an institution of higher learning, such as a two-year or four-year college, a trade or technical school, or a prep school. The available dollar amount and number of scholarships awarded is determined annually by the amount of funds available in the LSA Youth Programs account.
Kelly will be attending the University of New Hampshire in the fall to study Wildlife Biology and Conservation, a passion she discovered during her time spent at the Club. Kelly has been an active member of the Fish, Game, and Pheasants Committee alongside her parents, helping raise, care for, and stock the pheasants and fish at LSA. She has also participated in numerous fishing derbies and youth pheasant and turkey hunts, and hopes to continue helping out in this area as an adult volunteer.
—A.K.
