Review: May Exhibitions at AS220 - Inside Art with Michael Rose

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

 

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PHOTO: Michael Rose

 

For those looking to see a lot of art at one organization, AS220 rarely disappoints. This month, the institution’s downtown galleries are hosting a range of shows with everything from paintings, prints, photographs, and ceramics, to mixed media and immersive installation works. The impressive lineup is a good reason to travel to the heart of Providence this month and support the local artists with works on display.

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PHOTO: Michael Rose

 

In the Main Gallery at 115 Empire Street, colorful and expressive imagery reigns. In this space, Anthony Medeiros is exhibiting opposite Robert Snowden. Punchy figuration shows up in the work of both artists, with Snowden’s coming in the form of recurring mask motifs. For Medeiros, subjects are sensitively and expressively rendered in grittily painted abstract forms. While there are some similarities in mode, these two artists diverge in scale. Medeiros’ show is relatively quiet and incorporates smaller scale works, while Snowden’s is a floor-to-ceiling experience. The pairing of these two artists leads viewers to draw connections between ways of making.

 

Upstairs in the Aborn Gallery on the 2nd floor of 95 Empire Street, an impressive solo show features photographs and drawings by Madison Emond created while the artist was on a Fulbright-funded stay in New Zealand. Originally from the region, Emond previously worked as a staff member for AS220 and has just recently returned from her extended stay abroad. The work in her show brings an international viewpoint to this local gallery space and shows off the considerable talents of this member of Rhode Island’s younger generation of photo-based artists. A gifted and sensitive art maker, Emond has assembled a stunning exhibition and her photographs in particular show off an astute and mature style from an artist on the rise. Emond will soon be pursuing an MFA at the University of New Mexico, so the time is now to see this captivating work.

 

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PHOTO: Michael Rose

 

Asked what it means to share this important body of work with her neighbors in Providence, Emond answers, “Over the past six years, my community here in Providence has re-wired how I think about creative practice. This project speaks to the core of my brain and heart: how I think, feel, see the world and how I place myself in it. It's a beautiful, vulnerable thing to share this work with both a city [Providence] and organization [AS220] that have deeply affected me and in turn, the path of my collaboration with the Kaiwharawhara stream.”

 

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PHOTO: Michael Rose

 

In AS220’s Project Space and Reading Room at 93 Mathewson Street, two Russian-born artists are hosting discrete exhibitions. In the Project Space a stunning installation features works on paper and ceramics by Masha Ryskin. A RISD alum, Ryskin also holds an MFA from the University of Michigan. Ryskin’s drawings have a lyrical quality to them and draw visitors into the space. Although her work is room-filling, it is also exceedingly fine and delicate.

 

At the heart of the show is a sweeping set of drawings that spill into a vast pile onto the floor, alongside which are exhibited elongated drawings that show off a fine eye for abstraction and movement. In addition, ceramic shards with wonderful drawing qualities of their own are on display. Taken together, the collection is something remarkable.

 

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PHOTO: Michael Rose

 

In the Reading Room, adjacent to Ryskin’s work, there is a small solo show of Vesna Longton featuring installation work, inventive mixed media pieces, as well as wall-mounted drawings with a calligraphic use of line. Longton completed her art education in Moscow and emigrated to the United States in 2006. She is a member of the Attleboro Arts Museum and the Pawtucket Arts Collaborative.

 

In her show, Longton offers a sense of imagination and interactivity, with viewers invited to pin wishes to a sculpture tree in the form of paper leaves. Her mixed media paintings employ layers of plexiglass as their base to achieve a three-dimensional effect. She also utilizes resin, and electric light. Seemingly few materials fall outside her scope of practice.

 

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PHOTO: Michael Rose

 

Throughout AS220’s current exhibitions, there is a bit of something for every taste. While some of the most compelling works on display come from Emond’s photography and Ryskin’s elegant installation, all of the artists exhibiting deserve praise for their contributions. It is a vibrant collection of artworks and one that celebrates varied viewpoints, techniques, and artistic aims. AS220 prides itself on the unjuried nature of the exhibitions it produces, and its current exhibitions should be lauded for giving these exhibitors a platform to express themselves.

 

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PHOTO: Michael Rose

 

AS220’s May exhibitions continue through May 25. The galleries will be open late from 5-8pm on May 16 for Gallery Night Providence. Regular viewing hours are Thursdays - Saturdays from 12-5pm each day or other times by appointment. Learn more at AS220.org, or by emailing [email protected].

Michael Rose is a multi-talented fine art professional based in Southern New England. Since 2014 he has served as the gallery manager at the historic Providence Art Club, one of the nation’s oldest arts organizations. Through his current freelance work he advises collectors and artists, provides appraisal services, teaches, and completes curatorial projects.

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