A conversation with a friend pushed Karma Kitaj to consider the narrative quality of her own artwork. “Why do you paint what you paint?” her friend had asked. It was […]
REVISION
A Fresh Angle on an Old Collection
The current exhibition at PAAM brings the scars of history into view
A broken fence post juts into the foreground in a painting of Corn Hill by George Yater. It’s a framing device that functions both formally and conceptually. The post’s prominent […]
ART HISTORY
An Abstract Expressionist Turns to the Figure
George McNeil found existential intrigue in the human body
A show of paintings, ink-wash drawings, and lithograph prints currently on view at Orleans Modern Art captures a transitional moment in the career of George McNeil, an early participant in […]
In Truro, Memories of Old Provincetown
At home with Nate McKean and Braunwyn Jackett
Braunwyn Jackett and Nate McKean describe their North Truro house as having an “old-school Provincetown” aesthetic. “This is how we grew up,” Jackett says. The couple have deep Outer Cape […]
A Craftsman Finds the Power of Punk in Plywood
Thomas Moses builds his own riffs on Cape Cod modern design
When the Cape Cod Modern House Trust was a fledgling organization, Thomas Moses signed up to advance its mission to restore the Outer Cape’s modern houses, many of which were […]
RESIDENCY
Free to Frame a Boundless World
In the austerity of the dunes, Lili Chin finds a creative reset
Living for three weeks in a dune shack tucked in a hollow by the Atlantic, Lili Chin found the landscape both daunting and inspiring. “There’s a boundlessness that’s almost intimidating,” […]
POSSIBILITIES OF PAINT
The Slipperiness of Realism
A group exhibition of work by former FAWC fellows adds sparks of magic to the mundane
“Anything is possible” is written at the top of a painting by Sam Messer currently on view in “Edge Conditions,” a group exhibition of work by former visual arts fellows […]
RECONNECTION
An Exhibition Reunites a Family of Artists
Cove Gallery gathers the Shahns — Ben and his children Judith, Jonathan, and Abby
Though often overshadowed by her famous father, Ben Shahn, Judith Shahn, who died in 2009, was the star at Wellfleet’s Cove Gallery, which has promoted her artwork since she first […]
ARTISTS
The Unfurling of a Creative Vision
Sam Feinstein’s development from a Hofmann student to a painter of sublime abstractions
The Sam Feinstein exhibition at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum charts his lifelong commitment to abstraction and color. The paintings span his early years in Provincetown as a student […]
GARDENER’S NOTEBOOK
Structure and Color for Every Season of the Year
In Eastham, a collection of maples and conifers grows little by little
Story and drawings by Abraham Storer Keri Thomas and David Smile’s garden comes as a surprise to a visitor arriving on Oak Ridge Road in Eastham, not far from Cooks […]
LESS IS MORE
Polly Burnell’s Interior Vision Unearths Complex Worlds
Her paintings are small, but they are inspired by profound experiences
One of Polly Burnell’s most recent paintings, The Whale Dream (5 years before I came here), is of a whale that seems to be ascending from the water toward a […]
MAXIMALIST
The Totality of Julia Salinger
A multidisciplinary artist who doesn’t hold back
A maximalist by nature, Julia Salinger indulges in all that she finds curious and delightful. She’s a voracious collector of paper ephemera and a compulsive creator. “I basically live inside […]
GARDENER’S NOTEBOOK
A Hillside in Bloom
Reed Boland cultivates a kind of wildness
Story and drawings by Abraham Storer If you’ve ever driven up Bradford Street in Provincetown, you’ve likely seen Reed Boland’s garden — or part of it. The tiered landscape stretches […]
ODD JOBS
The Rigger’s Life Is a Curious One
In Provincetown Harbor, a man with a head for mechanics and knots
On a calm and sunny Monday morning in May, Samuel Rouse hops into his small skiff to make an easy commute, zipping across Provincetown Harbor toward a 37-foot sailboat that […]
PAINTING
Arthur V. Diehl’s Restless Imagination
The early 20th-century artist found himself most settled working in Provincetown
Born in 1870, Arthur V. Diehl emigrated from England to the United States in his early 20s and hustled throughout his life to earn a living as a painter. In […]
