After 35 years in business, Albert Merola and Jim Balla announced last month that their gallery at 424 Commercial St. in Provincetown’s East End will not reopen for the 2023 […]
A GIFT OF ART
Helen Frankenthaler’s Provincetown
Five works by the abstract master — the first in PAAM’s collection — are featured in an exhibition of recent acquisitions
Helen Frankenthaler’s Provincetown years were peppered with painting and parenting, swimming and socializing. “My sister Jeannie and I lived with Helen and our father, Robert Motherwell, for a decade of […]
HOT SHOTS
Bobby Miller’s Decisive Moments
45 years of a fabulous life behind the lens, on view at AMP Gallery
It happened one evening at Studio 54: Halston entered the legendary nightclub and was about to check his coat and fur hat. Ten feet away, Bobby Miller spotted his prey […]
INNER VISION
Liz Dexheimer Embraces ‘Atmospheric Conditions’
At Rice Polak, an artist’s abstract paintings create a meditative space
It isn’t easy finding Liz Dexheimer’s studio if you haven’t been there before. Cellphone reception is spotty in this remote area of Connecticut, and even with detailed directions its gray […]
HELPING HANDS
Lauren Ewing Explores the Possibilities of the Human Hand
The artist shows two suites of works finger-painted with carbon black soot
Lauren Ewing is wearing a narrow pin that she designed and fabricated. In lower case, it reads “everything speaks.” “My art is all about the world that we live in, […]
RETROSPECTIVE
A Maverick Artist’s Many Faces
Provincetown celebrates Philip C. Malicoat with paired exhibitions
Moisture, fog, the piney essence of forest and dunes — to commune with these in a Philip Malicoat landscape or seascape is to experience that certain slant of light when […]
FRAMING THE NEWS
Mira Schor and the Art of Misrepresentation
In a FAWC talk, she explores the role of politics in artists’ work
“This is not political,” the painting proclaims. Its flowing script, on an orangey background, is surrounded by a rectangular black frame, anchored by a vertical post. At first glance, the […]
TALKS
Lili Taylor on the Craft of Empathy
A star of film and television turns the lens on herself
Provincetown first welcomed critically acclaimed actor Lili Taylor, best known for her work in independent films and on TV in Six Feet Under and American Crime, in the 1990s, when […]
EXHIBITIONS
Mimi Gross Reframes the Mayflower Story
Her PAAM installation depicts the Pilgrims’ arrival from the Wampanoags’ point of view
“It’s historical; it’s interactive; you walk through it,” Mimi Gross says. She is describing how museum-goers will experience The Arrival, 1620, her site-specific installation that is opening on Friday, Oct. […]
EXHIBITIONS
Alvin Ross, Provincetown’s Man for All Seasons
Stopped in his prime, the painter is celebrated in a new PAAM show
“Alvin Ross was a real bon vivant, whose life, loves, interests, and connections were complex and often intertwined,” says James Bakker. Bakker, a local gallerist, auctioneer, and art historian specializing […]
POETRY
Gail Mazur’s Ode to Provincetown
A new collection of poems balances loss with renewal
“I knew it was going to make a person uncomfortable the minute they heard I was a poet,” Gail Mazur says. “I was really quite modest in my ambitions. I […]
PHOTOGRAPHY
Francis Olschafskie Develops Antique Negatives to Surreal Effect
An exhibit of vintage black-and-white photographs meets its moment
“I loved the darkroom, but the world changes,” photographer Francis Olschafskie says, a light wind scattering his raspy voice. “These prints were sort of an end for me.” Olschafskie, whose […]
GALLERIES
Paul Bowen Washes Back Ashore in Provincetown
A show of new work reflects his roots here and abroad
“The beach used to smell like hell,” sculptor Paul Bowen says. He is seated at a workbench in his studio on the top floor of a rugged barn that was […]
MIXED MEDIA
Rachel Eliza Griffiths Trades in Words and Images
Her new book, Seeing the Body, turns loss into epiphany
Even before her mother, Michele Antoinette Pray-Griffiths, died in the summer of 2014, writer-photographer Rachel Eliza Griffiths was shooting black-and-white self-portraits, positioning herself in locations that resonate with history, memory, […]
TOWN SPIRIT
Mischa Richter Has Provincetown on His Mind
A new show features photographs of past and present
“I Am a Town” would sound like a boast from almost anyone but photographer Mischa Richter. Modest and soft-spoken, Richter has long regarded Provincetown as his home. The subjects of […]
