"Corpus Callosum"

"Corpus Callosum"
by Michael St.Germain

My exhibition of "Corpus Callosum" at Atlantic Works Gallery is drawing to a close.


Indeed, pre-hanging preparations for this exhibition were time and labor intensive.

The 500 slide sheets, which hold 20 drawings each, were pre-mounted on paper panels with 1,000 homemade hinges and 2,000 pieces of tape.

When all was said and done, the turnout to the opening reception, gallery hours and Third Thursday event was moderate, but the overall experience was positive in several ways.

First of all, I got to see the work installed in its entirety. This might sound funny, but the work is so big that I never saw it on the wall at one time and in one place prior to this exhibition.



Check out this video clip to get an idea of the size of the piece.


Secondly, I got a lot of encouraging feedback from artist peers and insight from some sensitive viewers who took more than 30 minutes crawling through the work.

It's true that a work of this scale and visual density demands a lot from the viewer. Visual connections and relationships emerge slowly and unexpectedly.



This video clip is an up close view of the work.


One perceptive viewer pointed out that the pencil didn't appear to leave the paper during the execution of many of the drawings.


Others, through asking questions about the work, inadvertently brought me back to a period in my life when I was consistently up and drawing well before the sunrise...

"Corpus Callosum" Opening...

Opening Reception for "Corpus Callosum"

On Thursday, November 5, Atlantic Works Gallery hosted an opening reception for "Corpus Callosum," a 10,000 drawing wall piece by Michael St.Germain.



Family, friends, and others came by


to check out 10,000 matchbook-sized drawings (www.mikesartnook.blogspot.com).



The drawings were presented in 500 (20-pocket) slide storage pages.



These pages, in turn, were affixed to 84 panels. The work literally filled the whole gallery.



Some people chose to sit and get up close and personal with the work.



Others took it in the drawings sequentially.



As always, guests gathered to talk,



share a drink



and have a few laughs.

Special Thanks to our gallery installer George Kougeas for a very long, precise and elegant installation.

Special Thanks also to BeeBee Horowitz at the Toy Box at the Tisbury Marketplace in Vineyard Haven (Martha's Vineyard) for kindly offering a very generous discount on letters for signage.



Come join us on November 19 for a Third Thursday reception. It's from 6-9 pm. We're at 80 Border Street (third floor) in East Boston, Ma.

Third Thursday: October 15, 2009

Third Thursday: Phallic Confessions and Flaccid Truths...

On Thursday, October 15, Atlantic Works Gallery held a Third Thursday Reception for Phallic Confessions and Flaccid Truths, a provocative and thought-provoking exhibition by gallery members Samantha Marder and Laura Torres.

The event was casual, low- key



and chock-full-of laughs!



This was a welcome contrast to some of the raucous openings we have had recently!


Several gallery members were present and this was a nice opportunity to get visitors acquainted with our unique and awesome space which just happens to have some of the best visual arts programming in Boston!


We hope that you will stop by on Thursday, November 5, from 6 to 9 pm, for the opening of "Corpus Callosum"- a 10,000 drawing wall piece by gallery member Michael St.Germain.

Phallic Confessions and Flaccid Truth Opening Reception (10/9/09)

Opening Reception: Phallic Confessions and Flaccid Truth.

On Friday, October 9, Atlantic Works Gallery hosted an opening reception for Phallic Confessions and Flaccid Truth.


This personal and provocative show by Atlantic Works artists Samantha Marder and Laura Torres


engages the viewer with objects for


and artifacts of sexual transformation.


A lively mix of old friends and new faces came by


to check out the work,


listen to the harpist


and simply let it all hang out!


Please join us at the gallery for a Third Thursday reception on October 15th from 6:30-9:30 pm. We're at 80 Border Street in East Boston on the third floor.

Note: All photos courtesy of Paul K. Weiner.

Third Thursday Reception For "Make Believe"

Third Thursday for "Make Believe"

On Thursday, September 17, Atlantic Works Gallery hosted a Third Thursday reception for its September show Make Believe.


This exhibit by Atlantic Works members Elizabeth Hathaway and


Joan Ryan positions both artists



as aesthetic activists intent on using using their abilities to call attention to and urge action towards reducing the injustices perpetrated against women and children in Darfur.


To emphasize and expand upon their perspectives, Physicians for Human Rights were invited to present a poignant, vivid and sobering slide show. You could almost hear a pin drop...


That being said, a lot of discussion both serious


and not so serious transpired during the evening.


This mixing together of different perspectives, exposure to new aesthetic possibilities and encounters with overlooked realities makes Atlantic Works a great venue.

Opening Reception: Make Believe

Opening Reception: Make Believe

On Saturday, September 5, Atlantic Works Gallery held an opening reception for its current show: Make Believe.


Make Believe is a painting-centric, multimedia response by Elizabeth Hathaway and Joan Ryan to the tragedy of Darfur.

The show calls attention to the sexual abuse of Darfuri women in the refugee camps and urges the viewer to give consideration to the overlooked child victims of the conflict.


As part of the show, Cambridge-based Physicians for Human Rights is exhibiting a series of photographs which documents the displaced Darfuri women and children residing in refuge camps in eastern Chad.


Boston City Councilor Sam Yoon stopped by to check out the show and talk with guests.


There was an eclectic turnout of building artists,


gallery members


and invited guests.


Please join us for a Third Thursday reception for Make Believe. It's on September 17, from 6-9 pm at Atlantic Works Gallery (80 Border Street, Third Floor, East Boston). Hope to see you there!

Third Thursday: the Biennial Project's inaugural Boston Biennial

Third Thursday: The Biennial Project's inaugural Boston Biennial.

On August 20, Atlantic Works Gallery hosted a Third Thursday reception for the Biennial Project's inaugural Boston Biennial.



For this event, a call was put out to artists interested in erecting national pavilions (by country or state of mind) in the gravel patio/sculpture garden behind 80 Border Street.



Czech artists Sonia Domkarova and Bo Petran responded to the call with a farmer's market tent



loaded with Czech art magazines and catalogs. Cold Czech beer was there for the taking as long as you honored the artists request to throw the empty bottles on the ground inside of the tent.




The cool (not overly low tide) harbor air was quite welcome, and the patio became something of a collective undefined studio session!



Meanwhile upstairs in the gallery...




A video screening by Biennial Project member Charlene Liska engaged and entertained the the audience with a voyeuristic view of the thoughts and aspirations of Boston Biennial participants.



Come join us on Saturday, September 5 from 5-8 pm for an opening reception for "Make Believe", a show by gallery artists Beth Hathaway and Joan Ryan. We're located at 80 Border Street, East Boston, on the third floor.


Note: Photos 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 courtesy of Paul Weiner.