Museum And Gallery

Ain't that America

Sassy signs, obsessive patterns, and more

By GREG COOK | September 12, 2012

BOARDWALK EMPIRE Detail from Lee Friedlander’s Atlantic City, New Jersey (1971), from “America In View: Landscape Photography 1865 to Now.”

The bad news of this season is that the sharp-eyed folks behind R.K. Projects will be closing up shop in November after their fall exhibits, which include a group of Providence psychedelics and site-specific installations in Pawtucket (461 Main St from October 5-7). Their departure is a big loss for a city that struggles to provide venues for the wealth of fresh, challenging art being made here each day. But we'll soldier on with photos of albino deer, Latino conceptual art jokes, and meditations on the American land, history, and bigotry.

"MICRO-EUTOPIA" | RK Projects | September 20-November 3 | The 16-person show rounds up (current or departed) stars of Providence psychedelia — Ara Peterson, Brian Chippendale, Christopher Forgues, Eamon Brown, Muffy Brandt, and Jim Drain. Plus eccentric abstraction; Jay Zehngebot, best known for piercing meditations on war, technology, and America; and stuff by RK Projects' esteemed founding duo Sam Keller and Tabitha Piseno. They plan to shutter the gallery and depart Providence for New York when the show ends. Check out what we'll soon be missing. | 204 Westminster St, Providence | Free | 917.923.2449 | rkprojects.com

"AMERICA IN VIEW: LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY 1865 TO NOW" | RISD Museum | September 21-January 13 | The museum digs big names out of its archives — Ansel Adams, Walker Evans, Harry Callahan — to pre-sent a history of the US, and us, from Civil War-era scouting of (Indian) territories to be Manifest Destiny-developed to the dawning of today's environmental consciousness. | 224 Benefit St, Providence | $12; $10 seniors; $5 college students; $3 ages 5-18 | 401.454.6500 | risdmuseum.org

"IMAGE AND INNOVATION: 100 YEARS OF PHOTOGRAPHY FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION" | Newport Art Museum | September 22-January 13 | Rhode Island is a state long known as a pioneer for photography. Tapping into that legacy, the museum presents work from early 20th-century portraits to Aaron Siskind's abstract experimentation to Lucas Foglia's recent images of community gardens. | 76 Bellevue Ave, Newport | $10 adults; $8 seniors; $6 students + military with ID; free under 6 | 401.848.8200 | newportartmuseum.org

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Slideshow: Alexander McQueen's ''Savage Beauty'' exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Photos of Alexander McQueen's ''Savage Beauty'' exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, through August 7, 2011, in connection with Thomas Page McBee's review of the exhibit .
Taking a global view at Salt
In the 1930s, the New Deal-era Farm Security Administration compiled arguably the most influential photo dossier in American history, enlisting nationally prominent photographers like Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans to capture scenes of rural poverty during the Great Depression.
Statewide exhibit series winds down; are photos next up?
The fall months of 2011 have much to share for contemporary art lovers.
Slideshow: ''Stan VanDerBeek: The Culture Intercom'' at the MIT List Visual Arts Center
Images from ''Stan VanDerBeek: The Culture Intercom'' at the MIT List Visual Arts Center.
Touring the PMA's Biennial
The Portland Museum of Art 2011 Biennial features 65 works from 47 artists in an effort to showcase the best from today's local art scene.
Review: ''New Mythologies'' at Candita Clayton Studio
Two years ago I wrote that someone needs to put together a big local survey of Xander Marro's art. As far as I can tell it still hasn't happened.
Treasure trove
Visiting "Pictures from the Hay" is like rummaging through your grandparents’ attic . . . if your grandparents are amazingly curious, incredibly well-connected, and fabulously well-to-do.
Review: Be more Curious at SPACE Gallery
In a world of curiosities, it's tempting to shrug off the incomprehensible. This is where Kreh Mellick's and Kimberly Convery's approach becomes a problem.
Fall Art Preview: Rising to the challenge
Last weekend’s Block Party was a charming and invigorating celebration of Portland’s art community. The interactive evening, spearheaded by SPACE Gallery, set an ambitious standard for what’s to come on the art front rounding out this year.
Traveling critic seeks art to review
In “60 wrd/min art critic,” a performance event that has the feel of a triathlon, Lori Waxman, the Chicago Tribune art reviewer, will be coming to Portland to write short reviews for artists who wish to show her their work and get a piece written about it.
Review: '10 Most Endangered Properties'; plus, 'Chromophilia'
The most striking reminder of the threat to buildings featured on the Providence Preservation Society's "2010 Ten Most Endangered Properties" list is that Brownell & Field Company at 119 Harris Avenue, which the society highlighted because it feared it would be torn down, was approved for demolition on September 20 by the city's Historic District Commission.
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ARTICLES BY GREG COOK

R.K. PROJECT’S SPRAWLING ‘MICRO-EUTOPIA’ | October 17, 2012
If you're looking for where art is headed, "Micro-Eutopia," the 19-artist show at Sam Keller and Tabitha Piseno's R.K. Projects (204 Westminster Street, Providence, through November 10), is a good place to start.

GRAVEYARD OF MODERNISM | October 17, 2012
Iraq's King Faisal II launched plans to modernize Baghdad in 1950 by commissioning a dream team of American and European architects.

LADIES' MAN | October 17, 2012
Mario Testino is best known for photographing Princess Diana for Vanity Fair in 1997, just months before her death.

NEW WORKS BY MONICA SHINN AND ALLISON PASCHKE | October 09, 2012
Providence artist Monica Shinn's paintings at Buonaccorsi + Agniel (1 Sims Ave, #102, Providence, through November 3) feel something like diaries.

''ELSEWHERE'' | October 10, 2012
Every once in a while the city needs a show like "Elsewhere," the round-up of 17 local artists organized by Flux.Boston blogger Liz Devlin, to get a snapshot of the art being produced here.