Hanging Out In North Adams, 8/27/09

We’ve written about DownstreetArt before, an arts initiative organized and sponsored by the city of North Adams and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts that’s begun to snowball, making downtown North Adams an arts destination in its own right. This time, we went back for a last-Thursday-of-the-month evening of openings and performances, and we weren’t disappointed.

Mark Mulherrin’s summer-long retrospective continues at 28 Holden Street. This is the second exhibit (paintings this time) from Works and Days 1979-2009, a 3-part series of exhibitions encompassing a 30-year survey of his work.

Across the street at Avalon Seafood Gallery, the group show continues, with video installations and works by this month’s highlighted artist, Jason Lockyer, in the front room. As we left, we felt a sudden and mysterious itching on our arms and legs.

And right next door at MASS MoCA Downtown (5 Holden Street) there’s a display of the original art for Chapter 3 of George and Fiamma Cochrane’s 24-chapter graphic novel, Bird Gets The Worm. Chapters 1-2 are currently on display over at MASS MoCA.

Another extension gallery of Mass MoCA is located at 107 Main Street. Kidspace is a family-friendly workshop/gallery chock full of drawings and sculptures made by its visitors. Here’s a closeup of a button sculpture:

The North Adams Artists’ Co-op is a grass-roots, member-run gallery that features fine art side-by-side with exquisite crafts. The current show is themed Elements. Two works that caught our eye:

At MCLA Gallery 51, Thomas Mikelson plays with light and reflections in his photographs of glowing landscapes, nudes and, in a savvy bit of marketing, the Sol LeWitt exhibition down the street at MASS MoCA.

The Kolok Gallery is a few blocks from the main strip of downtown, but absolutely worth the short walk or drive. Currently on exhibit is Peter Dudek’s playful installation Almost Never. Sometimes. Maybe. includes objects, drawings and photographs that he continues to augment and rearrange over the course of the project.

Other shows continuing:

• Light and dark, stillness and movement: Kinoscope Dance Company’s installation, The Refractive Kinescope, @ 65 Main Street – still photos from films, illuminated by moving lights, with dance performances on DownStreet Art Thursdays (the last Thursday of the month.)
• MAYA III @ 73 Main Street: Jarvis Rockwell’s giant toy collection could mean a lot of things, including a study of obsession, a reflection on consumerism and a contemplation of the afterlife.
• Joshua Field’s window installation @ 73 Main Street, On Shores of Pitch reflects on the history and mythology of Trinidad’s Pitch Lake.

DownStreet Art continues through the Fall, with the next Downstreet Art Thrusday and its set of openings and performances on Thursday, September 24.