Start Me Up!

“If you start me up,

If you start me up, I’ll never stop”

– Jagger and Richards

Here we go!  The start of another photography season in Boston is upon us and we are overflowing with openings.  To help you navigate the the waters, I’ve compiled a listing of those shows I’ve been alerted to, so please feel free to add on in the comments section, if I’ve inadvertently left something out.

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

The Danforth Art 2015 New England Photography Biennial officially opens at the museum in Framingham, MA!  The exhibit was juried by 555 Gallery Director Susan Nalband and will run through December 6, 2015, with several opportunities to attend artist talks.  For more information and schedule of events, go to: http://www.danforthart.org/newenglandphoto2015.html

“Firefly, 2015” by Robert Avakian, on view at the Danforth Photo Biennial in Framingham.

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Panopticon Gallery in Boston’s Kenmore Square opens it’s fall season with “think small”, a show co-curated by Corinne DiPietro and Jason Landry, on view through December 1, 2015.  You are invited to their rocking reception (I’m not kidding) on September 10th from 5:30 – 7:30pm.  For more information, go to: http://www.panopticongallery.com/exhibitions/future/

The Somerville Toy Camera Festival celebrates “the quirky and creative results that can happen when photographers are forced to loosen their controls, submit to the light and embrace the accidental.”  The 2015 Festival, curated by Aline Smithson,  features work by nearly 100 artists from 5 countries and 26 US states in concurrent exhibits at the Nave Gallery, Nave Gallery Annex, and Washington Street Gallery.  It all starts on September 10th and only runs to the end of the month, so don’t miss it!  For more information and directions to the exhibition venues, go to: http://www.somervilletoycamera.org/gallery-locations/

The Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester is hosting its very popular Atelier 22 exhibit in all of their galleries, through September 28, 2015 – another relatively short show. Their free public reception with the artists is on September 10th from 6:30 – 8:30pm.  This exhibit features portfolio work by the talented emerging artists in the Griffin Atelier classes led by Meg Birnbaum, assisted by Amy Rindskopf.  For more information about the exhibiting artists and for directions to the Griffin, go to: http://www.griffinmuseum.org/blog/griffin-main-gallery/

From the series “Eye of the Storm” by Piet Visser, on view at Atelier 22 at the Griffin Museum of Photography.

Simmons College Trustman Art Gallery is presenting “Slyly Fractured”, a solo exhibit by the subversively funny feminist photographer Nancy Grace Horton through October 1, 2015. You are invited to a free public reception with the artist on September 10th, from 5:00 – 7:00pm.  In conjunction with this exhibit, the Gallery continues its Lunchtime Lecture Series on Wednesday, September 16 from 12:30-1:30 with a presentation by Professor of Philosophy & Women’s and Gender Studies Diane Grossman who will discuss Ain’t Misbehavin’: Popular Culture and the Feminine, followed by questions and conversation. For more information, go to: http://www2.simmons.edu/trustman/exhibits/slyly-fractured.php

The Cooper Gallery in Harvard Square is hosting the U.S. premiere of “Black Chronicles II”, an exhibit that features stunning and rare professional portraits of black subjects – a mix of both ordinary and prominent citizens – from the 19th and early 20th centuries, through December 11, 2015.  For more information, go to: http://www.coopergalleryhc.org/upcoming-black-chronicles-ii/

FIRST FRIDAY, September 11, 2015

First Friday is a celebration of the arts hosted monthly in SoWa, the gallery district in Boston’s South End (on and off of Harrison Avenue).  Because of Labor Day weekend, First Friday is this week. Here are some galleries featuring photographic work.

Gallery Kayafas opens its season with Harvey Loves Harvey’s “Aaron, Arlette, Harvey! Where is Charles?”, a collaboration of visual riffs between gallerist Arlette Kayafas and artists Jason Egan and Matthew Nash (known collectively as Harvey Loves Harvey) in response to Aaron Siskind’s “Harlem Document, 1932-1940”. Featuring photographs and video, this installation piece begs for your personal interaction.  Join the party from 5:30 – 8:00pm.  For more information, go to: http://www.gallerykayafas.com/

Robert Klein Gallery at Ars Libri is celebrating the end of summer with a closing party for Jim Dow’s delicious show “Taco Trucks, Taquerias and Carritos” from 5:30 – 7:30pm.  TENOCH, “Massachusetts’ best Mexican restaurant”, will have a truck curbside all evening!  For more information, go to:  https://www.facebook.com/events/1621962831416068/

Carroll and Sons is hosting an artist reception for Laura McPhee’s solo exhibition “The Home and the World” from 5:30 – 7:30pm.  Featuring photographs of the extraordinary domestic architecture of Kolkata, India, McPhee’s rich imagery tells a story of past and present in a unique microcosm of economic, political and religious traditions balancing dynamically with globalization and change.  The show runs through October 31, 2015.  For more information, go to: http://www.carrollandsons.net/exhibitions/upcoming.php

From “The Home and the World” by Laura McPhee, on view at Carroll and Sons in SoWa.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Pucker Gallery on Newbury Street will be hosting an artist reception from 3:00 – 6:00pm for one of the old masters of B&W photography, Paul Caponigro.  In “Dark into Light”, Caponigro’s exquisite gelatin silver still-life and landscape photographs are breath-taking.  For more information, go to:http://www.puckergallery.com/pdf/Paul%20Caponigro%20Catalog%202015%20FINAL%20lo.pdf

555 Gallery in South Boston is kicking off the coming season of mystery – “as the days get shorter, and the shadows get longer” – with representations of wonderful monsters, fortune tellers and wild dreams in the exhibition “Wild Thing”, on view through October 17, 2015.  Photographer Neal Rantoul’s new “Monsters” collection is printed larger than life featuring the familiar….Dorothy, Barbie and Beetlejuice, in a parade of shocking and in some cases alluring masks, mannequins and wigs.  You are invited to the artist reception on September 12 from 6:00 – 8:00pm.  For more information, go to: http://www.555gallery.com/exhibitions/#/upcoming-exhibition-1/

Neal Rantoul’s latest series “Monsters” is featured at 555 Gallery.

Feature Image: From “The One Love Project” by Meredith Abenaim, on view at the Griffin Museum’s Atelier 22 show.