The Boston Biennial 3 opened July 17th at Atlantic Works Gallery to a packed crowd of artists and art lovers!

If for some silly reason you missed this not-to-be-missed event, here’s a link to a video of the selected work:

And here is a sampling of some of this great art with comments on the pieces by the artists, plus links to see more work:

Open Arms, by Walter Kopec

"This land is your my land, this land is my land..." Of course we were here first and it's our inalienable right of, you know, Finders Keepers. And it's not like we are bordering on paranoia... it's just that we don't create the problems... and it's not like we are the ones who are different... and that word..." alien"... but... I say we should be kinder... let's be gentler... no need to fortify the fences, nor buttress the barricades, forget the burdensome obstacles... we'll just welcome with Open Arms.

See more at: walterkopec.com

Memories Lost/Found #1 - Memories "undergo a complex process of reconstruction during retrieval." (Damasio; Feeling of What Happens, 227), by Laura Krasnow

For me, defining a sense of place is the allure of the photographic image.  The instant, when time and place seem to merge to catch a moment.  But it is the imperceptible connections I seek to define.....when something catches your peripheral vision, but is gone when you turn for a longer glimpse.  My photographs aim to force the viewer to look beyond the obvious....to be present and aware of the physical and spiritual light within the subtleness.....to reveal the essence beyond the normal visual spectrum.

See more at: http://laurakrasnow.com

Frida, by Rachel Shatil

The pieces shown on the BB3 slide-show are part of a series which I call "The Absent Family". Every chair represent one person, usually a family member, most of whom vanished from the face of the earth during the most horrific assault performed by humans against their own kind, known as "The Holocaust". The stories of those people were told by my mother, a holocaust survivor, who embodied an incurable trauma, and dedicated her life to pass on her testimony. The chair called "Frida" represents a center figure in the story, my late grandmother and my mother's hero. She was last seen alive in the fall of 1943.

See more at http://www.rachelshatil.com

Notes on "ONE (A Space Timeline)", by Majorie Kaye

My sculpture has been about layering and piling cut pieces on top of each other, which lends itself to mirror natural forms such as pinecones, rock formations, etc.  It also is a statement and study of cause and effect, one piece's situation leading to the next, which is responsible in part, acting as magnetism, for phenomena in the natural world. In this piece, I have begun to utilize shingles, gluing them together, as they form a kind of wedge.  These are placed in between the cut plywood pieces to create an uneven area in between.  This leads to many possibilities of snake-like motions, "U", shapes, etc. The bending and warping of the layers created by the wedges signifies the warping of time, suggesting events on a timeline, and a oneness of space emerges.  This is the realization that time is an illusion, one big point in an endless stream of being.

See more at www.marjoriekayeart.com

All We Are Arises From Our Thoughts, by Carolyn Wirth

This image is really a collaboration between me and my photographer, Teresa Coates (http://www.coatesestudio.com), who has a strong vision of the noir-ness in my sculpture. This piece is called "All We Are Arises From Our Thoughts," which is a fortune-cookie saying from my new series of the same name. In a lighthearted mood, I think of this sculpture as an encounter between Ozymandias and Chuckie. More pensively, I imagine it as embodying the divide between thought and feeling.

See more at http://cvw198.wordpress.com

Exuviae: barnacle (TAG0074), by Adamo Macri

Exuviae is an ongoing project. The basis: an ecosystem built with a multitude of sculptural works created, then photographed. Collectively forming a photographic, abstract plantation. An allegorical narrative dealing with the delicacy of nature and its potential deceptive beauty. This particular photograph is one of the artworks in the Exuviae project.

See more at adamomacri.blogspot.ca, and facebook.com/Adamo.Macri

In Perpetuity, by Marlene Siff

In Perpetuity is one part of 47 paintings, works on paper and sculptures that became a solo exhibition at the Walsh Art Gallery in the Quick Center at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut, 2012. The exhibition entitled "Elements Of Peace" was my response to a desire to create spaces and gateways for people of all walks of life to come together to reflect on war and peace and to commemorate our "Fallen Heroes" in Afghanistan. All of the paintings entered in the BB3 are part of the series "Elements Of Peace".

See more at www.marlenesiff.com

Flirtation of meeting and parting, by Hildy Maze

To live the wound of love and yet not become scarred by despair or cynicism is a great living secret. How to live wounded without being chased by shadows and not merely 'endure'.

See more at http://hildymaze.com, and

http://issuu.com/artistportfoliomagazine/docs/northvssouth/87?e=2382761/8424055

LEGO Firearms 2014, by David Turner

I am a Belfast-based artist who creates autobiographical work through toy mediums that reflect conflict, terrorism, and evoke critical commentary on present day violence and war.Growing up in turbulent Belfast, I was surrounded by violence and conflict. These events have had a direct influence on my life and artwork, causing me to revisit my adolescence and recreate these memories with childhood mediums such as LEGOs, Hama Beads, Plasticine, and jigsaw puzzles. My artwork presents a platform that is both a direct reflection of my childhood and the conflict I have experienced, as well as giving a voice to current atrocities, be they children of war, child soldiers, or children who have lost their lives or a loved one to gun violence. My most recent series of work have materialized in many forms, from two-dimensional depictions to fully functioning firearms, which break down contentions of representation and offer new and exploratory directions for investigating themes of conflict, war, self, and popular culture.

See more athttp://www.belfastarts.co.uk/ and

http://jungkatz.com/2014/07/03/artist-interview-david-turner/

3000 ans d'errance, by Christine Comeau

3000 ans d'erranceis a performed installation, a choreographed tableau vivant. It is about the wandering of a small community of nomadic creatures pulling with them their mobile home. They are both curious and frightened by the discovery of this peculiar world. The topics of this project are about nomadism, exile, identities and networks between human being and their environment.The carts and tents have been made during a two months artists residency at Est-Nord-Est artists run center, St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec, in 2011. A photo shooting and a parade have been organized in the streets of the village and near the Saint-Laurent river, in the province of Quebec, Canada.

 See more at www.christinecomeau.com

A delicate Balance, by Nick Nazzaro

Originally this piece was going to be specifically about student debt, since I'm a recent college goer. After a lot of brooding, it became more about the 1% on top in general, with emphasis on the harm on they can cause. Some of these guys are true cartoon characters, getting away with dastardly deeds you'd only see from a goofy villain. If it wasn't so frighteningly sad, it'd be comical. My favorite part of the piece is the face. I wanted to bring it back to reality a little bit, and show this ugly mug, with a half finished, sort of sloppy, extremely red face. This whole process presented me with the question, "Are these people at top being corrupted by the money they make, or are only the corrupt able to get to the top?" 

See more at http://nicknazzaro.com

The Boston Biennial 3 is up until August 21st, so come on by and take a look:

ATLANTICWORKS.ORG

And come to the GALA BOSTON BIENNIAL CLOSING RECEPTION AUGUST 21ST 6-9PM!!!