Pat Falco of the Lincoln Arts Project in Waltham, Massachusetts, offers the following Best Art of 2011 list:
“Hey I Know That Guy!” group show curated by Snow Project at Washington Street Art Center, Somerville, Massachusetts, January 29, 2011. The ultimate DIY show. One night only, pickles and beer, the art is hung wall to wall, floor to ceiling, and wherever else it fits. The reception gets packed to the point that you can really only see art hung above peoples heads, but I like the vibe and although the show isn’t juried there are a lot of great artists and some awesome crude portraiture you don’t get a chance to see many other places in or around Boston.
“The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl,” Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art, April 15 to September 5, 2011. In general I thought this show was pretty hit or miss, but there was enough really great stuff in it, and the work by Mingering Mike was amazing. It was definitely some of the coolest stuff I’ve seen at the ICA recently and great to see work like this in a museum setting. [Pictured at top: Mingering Mike, "Mingering Mike: Can Minger Mike Stevens Really Sing (Fake/Nations Capitol Records)," 1969. Pictured above: David Bryne's Polaroid collage for the cover of "More Songs About Buildings and Food," 1978.]
Damien Hoar De Galvan “I Wish I Had Something To Say” Carroll and Sons Art Gallery in Boston, June 2 to July 30, 2011. This was one of the only shows that I ended up in where I loved the work, and had no prior knowledge of the artist or the work beforehand. Tucked away in the back gallery of Carroll and Sons, the show was an awesome mix of quirky sculptures, drawings and hand type on paper pinned to the wall, and similar work framed and hung gallery style.
“Reproduction: A Printed Matter Group Show,” Yes. Oui. Si., Boston, July 2011. This was another non-juried show that I really enjoyed. The only theme being that the work had to be available in multiples or prints. There were a lot of great prints, handmade books and zines and the show turned me on to some awesome younger local artists that I didn’t really know before. [Pictured above: James Weinberg's "Somerville Rooftops."]
“Wall Works” DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts, June 11, 201, to April 22, 2012. This might not qualify as a standard gallery “show”, but I was a fan of the concept behind site-specific work reacting to the museum’s collection and I really enjoyed a lot of the installations. [Pictured above: Natalie Lanese, "Retro Future," 2011.]
“Close Distance,” Mills Gallery, Boston, July 15 to August 28, 2011. This was a pretty solid small group show at the Mills Gallery, featuring Boston-area Latino artists. Raul Gonzalez’s work (with La Die) was awesome, and there were a few other things I really enjoyed in this show. [Pictured above: Art by Gonzalez as photographed by Carla Osberg.]
“Otto Piene: Lichttballett,” MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts, October 21 to December 31, 2011. There was something really refreshing about this show. The List center is one of my favorite galleries and this show combines (successfully) Piene’s older work with some new stuff. “Lichttballett” [pictured above] is much more of an experience than a traditional gallery show and standing alone in the pitch black with just the lights of the work is a pretty awesome experience.
“The Pre-Vinylite Society Hand Painted Signs Show,” The Extension Gallery at Orchard Skate Shop, Allston, Massachusetts, November 2011. Josh Luke did an awesome job curating this show [pictured above], bringing in sign painters from around the country. I’m a sucker for hand type and this was a mecca for it. Lots of interesting work I hadn’t really seen in a gallery setting before and hope to see more of in the future.
More posts from The New England Journal of Aesthetic Research’s Best Art of 2011 series: Rachelle Beaudoin and Steve Locke.