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Exerpts from reviews by BILL VAN SICLEN |
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| 12/26/02 Artistic transmutations According to art scholar James Elkins, painting is alchemy a mysterious process by which oil, water, earth and other common materials are turned into the pure gold of art. (Elkins, a professor at the Art Institute of Chicago, made the painting-alchemy connection in his 2000 book What Painting Is.) But after seeing "Fire, Water, Air, Earth: A Perpetual Alchemy" at Fall River's Bristol Community College, I'd advise Elkins to expand his definition. Here both painters and sculptors perform artistic transmutations. A case in point is Newport sculptor Michael Hansel, whose rugged wood-and-metal constructions suggest both giant marine animals and pieces of heavy machinery. (Imagine a school of armor-plated jellyfish and you'll just about have it.) Boston sculptor Marcella Morgese, meanwhile, scavenges pieces of wood, steel and paper, then fashions them into futuristic masks and totems. |
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| 9/12/02 SCULPTURE SHOWCASE - A FESTIVAL OF OUTDOOR ART IN PROVIDENCE, NEWPORT AND PAWTUCKET A driftwood forest that sways gently in the breeze. A rough-hewn granite arch that looks like a refugee from Stonehenge. A jumble of cones and wires that suggests a futuristic tuba. These are among the outdoor artworks that await the adventurous, the curious and even the unsuspecting at this year's Convergence International Arts Festival, through Sept. 22. Now in its 15th year, Convergence has grown to include concerts, dance performances, art exhibits and a film festival (see Page 28 for information on this week's events). But at heart it remains what it has been since its debut in Roger Williams Park in 1987: a showcase for outdoor sculpture. This year's sites include two busy urban areas - Providence and Pawtucket and one truly spectacular stretch of Rhode Island shoreline: Newport's Easton's Beach. As usual, it's a mixed bag, with good, bad and mediocre works scattered around streets and parks, sand dunes and riverbanks. Some, like Rob Lorenson's elegant stainless steel sculptures in the Fleet Center Galleria and a jazzy bronze-and-steel construction by Mike Hansel at Easton's Beach, are about as good as contemporary sculpture gets. Others demonstrate what can happen when large pieces of wood and metal fall into the wrong hands. Still, almost any of these works are capable of tweaking our artistic perceptions, if only because of where they are: outdoors. |
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| 5/03/01 Over in its Griswold House galleries, the museum has two more exhibits on tap. One, In Our Element: The Potters of Newport County, shows off the work of local potters and ceramists. The other, Industrial Daydreams, features the work of Newport sculptor Michael Hansel. My recommendation is to visit the Hansel show first. Not only will you be looking at one of the state's best young sculptors, but Hansel's sculptural vocabulary, which draws on everything from heavy machinery to boats and buoys, should have particular appeal for Rhode Islanders. After that, by all means, visit the pottery show, where you'll find a lot of very nice pieces but only one really superb one: a small Asian-inspired vessel by James Zilian called Basket. Industrial Daydreams and In Our Element: The Potters of Newport County continue through June 10 and Joseph Norman: Berlin Autumn and A Decade of Gifts through June 17 at the Newport Art Museum, 76 Bellevue Ave. Winter hours are Mon.-Sat. 10-4 and Sun. noon-4. After May 25, Mon.-Sat. 10-5 and Sun. noon-5. |
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| Art Spotlight - Sculptor Hansel mixes man-made with natural 08-28-2000 The artist: Michael Hansel What he does: Sculptor Where he's been: Born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Attended the University of Cincinnati and the University of Pennsylvania. Lives in Middletown. Making an impression: Last spring, when Hansel won best-of-show honors at the Newport Art Museum's annual members' exhibition, it was the first time many Rhode Islanders had heard of the talented Middletown sculptor. "I really haven't been as energetic as I should have been in pursuing my career," he says apologetically. "I'm one of those people who'd rather be in the studio than out trying to peddle my work to galleries." Mechanic meets organic: Fortunately, Hansel's dedication seems to be paying off. His work, which often mixes mechanical and organic elements in unusual ways, has popped up in several gallery shows recently, including a one-man show at Newport's Suydam + Diepenbrock. One sculpture looer suggested an industrial gear or sprocket that had decided to take tango lessons. "I really try to combine those two things, the organic and the man- made," he says. "Ideally, I'd like to think that nature and industry aren't really opposites, but more like complementary terms." Teaching and working: When he's not in his studio, Hansel is usually teaching at St. George's School, where he's run the studio art program since 1993. This fall, the 42-year-old artist is also gearing up for an exhibit that should bring him even more notice: a retrospective show at the Newport Art Museum. "I have a lot of good ideas I'd like to explore over the next few months," he says of the show, which is slated for next spring and is part of his prize for taking top honors in the museum's 1999 members' exhibit. "Hopefully, they'll be ready in time for the show." |