{"id":21627,"date":"2022-05-09T22:01:09","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T02:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=21627"},"modified":"2022-05-09T22:01:09","modified_gmt":"2022-05-10T02:01:09","slug":"bitetti-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2022\/05\/09\/bitetti-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Kathy Bitetti\u2019s \u2018The Sea Hates A Coward\u2019 Collages"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThese works are small scale visual odes to the power and terror of the ocean,\u201d Boston artist Kathy Bitetti writes of her exhibition of collages \u201cThe Sea Hates a Coward\u201d at Gallery Kayafas<\/a> in Boston from April 22 to May 28, 2022.<\/p>\n

The 45 small collages (the biggest is 11 inches wide) are a covid pandemic project inspired by 15 quotes she\u2019s collected about the sea, as well as the second-hand frames in which they\u2019re displayed. The exhibition title is from Eugene O\u2019Neill\u2019s 1931 play \u201cMourning Becomes Electra.\u201d Bitetti writes that the collages draw from her mapping projects, \u201cCrossings: Massachusetts-Malta (2009-2019)\u201d and \u201cCrossings: Emerson Was Here (Boston),\u201d about Ralph Waldo Emerson\u2019s 1832 journey aboard a cargo ship from Boston to Malta. \u201cThis was the trip that transformed Emerson into the \u201cEmerson\u201d the world knows,\u201d Bitetti writes.<\/p>\n

\"Kathy<\/a>
Kathy Bitetti, “the sea hates a coward” exhibition at Gallery Kayafas, Boston, May 2022.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A quote from celebrated surfer Buzzy Trent\u2014\u201cWaves are not measured in feet or inches, they are measured in increments of fear\u201d\u2014accompanies visual riffs on Katsushika Hokusai\u2019s 1830s woodblock print \u201cThe Great Wave\u201d (also known as \u201cUnder the Wave Off Kanagawa.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the collages either have a photographic image I took in January 2021 of the Atlantic Ocean in Boston or an image of the Mediterranean Ocean that I took in Valletta in February 2019 during my residency in Malta with Valletta Contemporary\u201d Bitetti writes. \u201cThe Mediterranean continues to claim the lives of countless migrants trying to make their way to Europe and historically many lives have been lost in the Atlantic Ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have always lived near the ocean\u2014so close that I could always see it when I walked out my front door,\u201d Bitetti writes. \u201cI don\u2019t think I could ever live far from its shores. In 2020, during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was lucky to be able to take daily walks by the Atlantic Ocean. I continue to be lucky to be able to take these walks as the global pandemic continues.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark?\u201d Bitetti quotes the filmmaker Werner Herzog. \u201cIt would be like sleep without dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previously:<\/strong> Boston Artist Kathleen Bitetti Follows The Footsteps Of Abigail Adams, Ralph Waldo Emerson<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And sign up for our free, occasional newsletter<\/a> so that you don’t miss any of our reporting. (All content \u00a9Greg Cook 2022 or the respective creators.)<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\"Kathy<\/a>
Kathy Bitetti, “The sea hates a coward.” – Eugene O’Neill, #2. 3.28.21; 7\u201d l x 9\u201d h; Mediterranean.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kathy<\/a>
Kathy Bitetti, “Waves are not measured in feet or inches, they are measured in increments of fear.” \u2013 Buzzy Trent, collages.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kathy<\/a>
Kathy Bitetti, “Waves are not measured in feet or inches, they are measured in increments of fear.” \u2013 Buzzy Trent, #1 1.31.21; 10 1\u20442 \u201c l x 8 3\/8 \u201c h; Mediterranean.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kathy<\/a>
Kathy Bitetti, “Never trust the calm sea when she shows her false alluring smile.” – Lucretius and “He who lets the sea lull him into a sense of security is in very grave danger.” – Hammond Innes collages.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kathy<\/a>
Kathy Bitetti, “Never trust the calm sea when she shows her false alluring smile.” – Lucretius, #3. 1.23.22; 6\u201d l x 8 1\u20444 \u201ch (has anchor motif); Mediterranean.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kathy<\/a>
Kathy Bitetti, “Never trust the calm sea when she shows her false alluring smile.” – Lucretius, collages.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kathy<\/a>
Kathy Bitetti, “Only fools and passengers drink at sea.” – Alan Villiers #3 2.27.22; 6 \u201c l x 8 \u201c h; Mediterranean.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kathy<\/a>
Kathy Bitetti, “My story starts at sea, a perilous voyage to an unknown land.” – Shakespeare, collages.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kathy<\/a>
Kathy Bitetti, “What would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark? It would be like sleep without dreams.” – Werner Herzog, collages.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kathy<\/a>
Kathy Bitetti, “What would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark? It would be like sleep without dreams.” – Werner Herzog, #2. 3.28.21; 8 1\u20442 \u201c l x 6 1\u20442 \u201c h; Mediterranean.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kathy<\/a>
Kathy Bitetti, “The sea has never been friendly to man.” – Joseph Conrad, #3. 1.9.22; 6\u201d l x 6\u201d h x 1 3\u20444 width; Atlantic.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kathy<\/a>
Kathy Bitetti, “One does not have to see the sea to know that monsters live there.” – Katie Cross, collages.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kathy<\/a>
Kathy Bitetti, “The power of the ocean wasn’t questioned.” – Yelena Akhtiorskaya, #2. 12.31.21; 7 3\u20444 \u201cl x 5 3\u20444\u201d h; Atlantic.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kathy<\/a>
Kathy Bitetti, “The power of the ocean wasn’t questioned.” – Yelena Akhtiorskaya and “There’s never an end for the sea.” – Samuel Beckett collages.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThese works are small scale visual odes to the power and terror of the ocean,\u201d Boston artist Kathy Bitetti writes of her exhibition of collages \u201cThe Sea Hates a Coward\u201d at Gallery Kayafas in Boston from April 22 to May 28, 2022. The 45 small collages (the biggest is 11 inches wide) are a covid […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21646,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[37,416,979],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21627"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21627"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21647,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21627\/revisions\/21647"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}