Art Review: Man-Made: A State of Nature
Art Review: Man-Made: A State of Nature
By Dan Kany Maine Sunday Telegram February 24, 2019
Gin Stone, Atlantic Canyons Coyote
Greenhut Exhibit Shows Bleak Future for the Planet, but Bright One for Gallery
Portland has seen a recent blossoming of art venues, but the gallery scene has shifted to Rockland, which has more than 20 commercial galleries. Portland’s growing strength includes multiple museums, academic galleries, nonprofit kunsthalles and a few venues such as Speedwell Projects and Able Baker Contemporary that, from the front, look like galleries but act behind the scenes more like nonprofits. Not long ago, Portland was the gallery gathering point for Maine, but now you can practically count its traditional commercial galleries on one finger.
Established in 1977, Greenhut is Maine’s longest-operating gallery. And things are happening there. With the departure of galleries such as June Fitzpatrick, Susan Maasch, Aucocisco and others over the past few years, Portland has been left without a commercial gallery that focuses on cutting-edge contemporary art by regional artists. (Grant Wahlquist Gallery is not so traditional and not so focused on regional artists.)
Greenhut has long been primarily a painting gallery that also features a few traditional sculptors. But things are changing. Greenhut is expanding with an additional space scheduled to open in June. And while Greenhut alternates year by year with its “Portland” and “Maine” invitational shows, “Man-Made: A State of Nature: An Invitational Group Show of Activist Art” feels like an additional direction that is finding purchase. But this is where the unapologetically contemporary show gets interesting as mounted by Greenhut: The theme is environmentalist, but the show doesn’t feel overly driven by ideological conceptualism. It is a surprisingly handsome show (and kudos to whoever installed it – organizing that much work in a small space is no mean feat), and it seems like the curator, co-owner Kelley Lehr, was focused more on work she likes than on hammering home the political message of the theme. For the viewer, this feels like the best of both worlds: good art with a meaningful message.
Read the rest of the article here: https://www.pressherald.com/2019/02/24/art-review-greenhut-exhibit-shows-bleak-future-for-planet-but-bright-one-for-gallery/
Jeff Woodbury, Green Grid
Sean Alonzo Harris, One Year Later #4421