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This summer is fickle. It’s been a temperamental and mercurial season of intense heat, suffocating humidity, sudden branch-breaking windstorms, heavy fogs, surprisingly cool early mornings and far too many rainy weekends.
But there are pleasant distractions to be had in any number of art venues throughout the South Coast. The Judith Klein Art Gallery’s lowkey and breezy “Summertime Exhibit” features the work of nine guest artists from her unstable stable and from the gallerist herself.
New Bedford oil painter Mary Monteiro’s “Integration” is a soft touch impressionist work that certainly taps a Monet sensibility. Delicate orange and yellow foliage is reflected in the pond below to such a degree that the delineation between tree and water is almost indiscernible. Integration, indeed.
Heather Stivison’s whimsical “Sea and Sand” is an acrylic painting that is hardly a traditional landscape. It is more about visual play delivered with a childlike curiosity and excitement. Imagine a bird’s-eye view of the point where the waves hit the beach and hundreds of tiny white bubbles joyously dance across the canvas.
Michael Hubert’s “Sometimes Always” leans hard and unapologetically into pure abstraction. Gestural marks, purposeful runs, scratches and smudges coexist on a surface that gives way to a deep black space. It’s kept in check by a white counterbalance and some sweet pale blue forms. But it is the small Coca-Cola red rectangle almost at dead center that demands attention.
Willem de Kooning did a painting of Marilyn Monroe in 1954. One month after her death in 1962, Andy Warhol did the first of his numerous paintings of the famed actress. In 1965, the British pop artist Richard Hamilton (considered by many to be the first pop artist) did a painting of her that he called “My Marilyn.” And 63 years after her passing, she is still a muse to some.
Gregoire Marshall’s “Red Hot Summer” is a derivative collaged portrait that leans a bit too heavily into a kind of pop nostalgia and gets a bit too text heavy with pasted-on words. There is a mildly clever but too easy juxtaposition of the “s” in “courageous” landing in front of “extrovert.” Marilyn would likely not be amused.
Klein’s “Primavera,” with a title likely a nod to Botticelli’s second most famous painting, is a loosely painted rendition of a young woman with long brown hair and a swanlike neck. She wears a yellow blouse — which is parchment paper that has been collaged to the surface of the canvas. Her eyes are closed as if in daydream. She must be Flora, the ancient Roman goddess of flowers and spring that stands among her divine peers in the Botticelli painting.
“Summertime Exhibit” is rounded out with works by Lori Bradley, Helen Bryant, Rhonda M. Fazio, Elizabeth Michelman and Suzanne Volmer. It will be on display until Aug. 15 at the Judith Klein Art Gallery at the Kilburn Mill, 127 West Rodney French Blvd., Suite 287, New Bedford.
In 2013, local sculptor Jessica Bregoli founded the Seaport Art Walk, an annual event that invites regional artists to submit proposals for public artworks along the waterfront and the Seaport Cultural District on Route 18. All the accepted work for the 2025 Seaport Art Walk is situated between Tonnessen Park and Merrill’s Wharf.
This year’s theme is “Revolution/Evolution” and according to a statement released by the organizers, it explores “how New Bedford has continually reshaped itself — through resistance, innovation, and the contributions of those whose stories are often overlooked. Rooted in the ancestral lands and legacy of the Wampanoag peoples, New Bedford has long stood at the crossroads of revolutionary ideas and cultural transformation — from its central role in the abolitionist movement to its enduring influence on industry, civil rights, art and science.”
Five artists were officially selected to exhibit in the 2025 Art Walk.
Brooke Mullins Doherty’s “Convolution” is the most abstract of the assembled works as it explores “transformation through complexity.” Bright red tendrils twist and turn and transform into a large, brilliant butterfly. It’s a Cinderella story of sorts as the lowly becomes the lovely.
Mandy Fraser’s “Dr. Marie Equi” is a two-dimensional statue of the New Bedford born woman (1872), a proudly defiant queer physician who provided birth control advice and abortions. In addition, she was a labor activist and a suffragist. In Fraser’s rendering, the upper half of her more-or-less lifesize body is a black-and-white photograph. She wears a checkered jacket and a bonnet. The lower half of her body is covered with brightly hued text that reveals more about her: “fought class injustice, pioneer, parent, openly gay…”
Ed McAloon’s metal sculpture ”Weaving A Community” features hands in various shades of black, white and brown, working to make a basket, an apt metaphor for communal cooperation.
“Mary ‘Polly’ Johnson’s Herb Garden Quilt Mural” depicts the likeness and interests of the prominent abolitionist and confectioner, who shared a home with her second husband Nathan Johnson at 21 Seventh St. in New Bedford. It was the first home to Frederick Douglass as a free man.
Maya Bird-Murphy and students from Our Sisters’ School constructed an interactive site-specific wooden structure, about the size of a good garden shed, to make “Changemakers Club.” Inside there are books and bits of wisdom. But most important are the inclusion of two small white slotted metal locked boxes with the word AFFIRMATIONS on it, notebooks, pens, and instructions that read “Write a kind note — for yourself, someone else, or the whole community. Take it with you or leave it in the Affirmations box to uplift others later.”
It’s a rather beautiful gesture.
There are a series of large photographic panels featuring the work of five local artists: Beatrice Alder, Ben Berke, Paula Robinson Deare, Adrian Tio and Zachary White, all whose practices reflect revolutionary themes in their own right.
Of particular interest are Alder’s images of scrimshaw with names such as “Not Sisters, Not Roommates,” “Man Enough to Mend It,” and “Scrimshaw Sappho” as well as the “Out of the Shadows” historical portrait series by Deare. However, it is unfortunate that screwheads protrude from the artwork. There are better fastener options available.
It is noted that sculptor Eric Lintala’s “Memories Carried on the Wind, Homage to the Wampanoag” and Donna Dodson’s “Moby Dick” were “returning’ to the Sea Walk. But they never left. The Seaport Art Walk will be in place until Oct. 31.
In any case, enjoy the fickle summer. And make an affirmation or two.
Don Wilkinson has been writing art reviews, artist profiles and cultural commentary on the South Coast for over a decade. He has been published in local newspapers and regional art magazines. He is a graduate of the Swain School of Design and the CVPA at UMass Dartmouth. Email him at dwilkinson@newbedfordlight.org.
Beautifully written review ! Thanks so much Don Wilkinson and New Bedford Light.