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War becomes art
Salcedo, Sze, the Sale, the Studios, and the Venice Biennale
BY RANDI HOPKINS

Bogota-born and -based sculptor Doris Salcedo makes art out of her experience with victims of political violence in her native Colombia, a country besieged by military forces and jungle guerrillas, drug lords and right-wing paramilitary squads. Salcedo first came to international attention with an evocative series in which she collected the shoes of women who had disappeared, then embedded them into niches cut directly into gallery walls. More recently, she has transformed household items like chairs and cupboards to conjure the ghosts of their former owners and, by implication, their ravaged lives. Salcedo will discuss her work as part of the ongoing first-rate lecture series at Harvard’s Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts on Thursday December 5 at 6 p.m.

Toothpicks and clothespins were some of the earliest stuff of artist Sarah Sze’s quixotic, hypnotic installations. More recently her work has seemed to be stretching out into space, projecting from walls and extending from ceilings with gravity-defying grace. Now, Sze is at work in the MFA’s West Wing entrance area constructing a sculpture that plays off the energy of the busy lobby and the movement of the escalator leading to the second floor. She is the second artist to participate in the museum’s "RSVPmfa" series, in which artists are invited to work outside the traditional MFA galleries, interacting with the collection and the grounds. "RSVP: Sarah Sze" will be on view from December 4 into next spring.

Across the street, the Museum School will be mounting its 22nd annual December Sale. This is your opportunity to discover a hot new artist or add to your collection of an established favorite. The more than 1000 works created by the Museum School’s talented alumni, faculty, students, and staff — more than 300 artists — will include paintings, photographs, prints, drawings, sculpture, and jewelry; proceeds will benefit the school’s financial-aid program. The December Sale opens at noon on December 5 and continues through December 8.

Must-have art will also be showcased at Brickbottom’s 15th annual Open Studios in Somerville this weekend, on November 23 and 24. Brickbottom, which occupies buildings originally erected in the 1920s as the cannery and bakery of A&P stores, is one of the oldest living and working artist communities in the country. With more than 70 of its talented artist/residents participating, this event promises treasures galore.

And big news on the international scene — mark your calendar for June 14, 2003, when Boston (well, Cambridge) makes its presence felt at the granddaddy of all art fairs, the Venice Biennale. Kathleen Goncharov, public-art curator at MIT’s List Visual Arts Center, has been named commissioner for the official presentation in the US Pavilion next spring. She’ll be presenting an installation by artist Fred Wilson, whose work in Venice she describes as dealing with that magnificent city’s diverse past and focusing on images of "the other" in Venetian and European history. With Goncharov’s appointment, MIT continues an already proud tradition: former List Center director Katy Kline and curator Helaine Posner organized the US Pavilion for the Venice Biennale in 1999.

Doris Salcedo speaks at the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, 24 Quincy Street in Harvard Square, on Thursday December 5 at 6 p.m., with a reception to follow. The lecture is free; call (617) 495-3251. "RSVP: Sarah Sze" will be on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue, beginning December 4; call (617) 267-9300. The December Sale at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, 230 the Fenway, takes place from noon to 8 p.m. on December 5 and from noon to 6 p.m. December 6 through 8; call (617) 369-3129. Brickbottom Open Studios, 1 Fitchburg Street in Somerville, takes place this Saturday and Sunday, November 23 and 24, from noon to 6 p.m. Call (617) 776-3410 or visit www.brickbottomartists.com.


Issue Date: November 21 - 28, 2002
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