From the Publisher – March 2022

As you read on the masthead page and as I’m sure you’re noticing as you hold the magazine in your hands, Art New England had to resort to an uncoated text stock in order to avoid further publishing delays. Hopefully, this is a one-time alternative. I commend the efforts of our printing team—they’ve been a great partner and creative thinker throughout. These lingering, COVID-caused complications, along with labor and transportation problems, have affected all our businesses in one way or another. (My local coffee shop couldn’t get large-size cups for weeks.) Let’s continue to extend appreciation for all the efforts being made to return to some semblance of normalcy as well as patience for those of us still affected by current challenges. It’s possible the paper industry will even out in the next few months. In the meantime, ANE’s content remains the same, the ads still “pop,” and we’re excited to see the Emerging Artists Issue in print.

This issue is about voices, really. It gives me and the staff great satisfaction to seek out these 10 “emerging” voices each year. To push them in your direction a little further, to get the readership talking about them. Big thanks go out to this year’s nominators. It’s hard for them to submit only a few names—and harder for the staff to narrow that list down.

The way I look at it, this is not a time to be silent. On any subject. This is a time to be talking, listening, and empathizing. We could be involved in a war by the time you read this. These artists, regardless of their medium, are all seeking alternative answers to conflict, anger, narrow mindedness. And our cover artist Justin Levesque, he’s out to redefine our thinking about the Arctic, climate change, and our responsibility to the planet. This cover is as stunning as the process through which it was created. “These composited photographs were made by placing a fluorescent red buoy near a crack in an ice floe where blue ice was exposed. The buoy’s color diffused the surrounding white ice with a pink hue and exacerbated the intensity of the color blue. It somewhat reminded me of a womb. I imagined if Mother Nature were to live somewhere, she could be here,” explains Levesque. He’s pushing photographic and printing boundaries into directions I may not understand yet am fascinated by. As I often say, find these artists, talk with them. They are the change-makers.

In other parts of this issue you’ll learn more about Milton Avery through the eloquent writing of Susan Rand Brown; Christopher Volpe dissects the controversial immersive Banksy exhibition; Shura Baryshnikov and Boston Lyric Opera debut their film Svadba; Simone Leigh heads to the Venice Biennale in Cynthia Close’s close-up of the artist; Emily Avery-Miller sat down with photographer Rania Matar (a Studio Visit suggestion from our art director and fellow photographer Lori Pedrick), and B. Amore shares her thoughts on M. Sharkey’s photographs of Vermont’s first Pride March in 1983, on display at Vermont Folklife Center Vision & Voice Gallery. And check out Artist Directory—in print and online. The talent captured here never ceases to amaze me. Spring is the perfect time to either begin or add to your own art collection. Reach out to these artists. Visit them on a First Friday or Third Thursday, whatever your area offers.

I’m told spring is here and that COVID is lessening. On the chance it’s true, it’s time to venture forth (safely, mindfully, with masks and distancing where appropriate) and return to museums, to galleries, and live performances in full force. The Exhibition Listings will help you make your plans. Perhaps the worst is over. Perhaps we’re now co-existing in this new world with more savvy and grace.

So paper be damned. There’s never been more to write about.

Enjoy the issue,

Tim Montgomery
Publisher