BOSTON, MASS.- LaiSun Keane is presenting a three-person exhibition titled Harbinger featuring New York based artists Mary DeVincentis, Jackie Shatz, and Mary Tooley Parker on view from September 2 to October 17, 2021.
The word “harbinger” is used here to signify what our hope for the future entails and reinforces one of our gallery missions - to provide a platform for contemporary art by women working in diverse mediums of art. We are immensely proud to launch our fall program with this exhibition. These veteran artists work with varied approaches to painting, sculpture and fiber art, and share commonalities in their approach to story telling which is informed by psychoanalysis, fantasy and reality.
Mary DeVincentis grew up in an image-rich household full of art books and artwork. She learned to retrospect her inner space in paintings. Her experience studying and practicing Tibetan Buddhism profoundly influenced her. In addition, some of the core concepts of Buddhism, such as impermanence, emptiness, interdependence, and the origins of suffering as arising from attachment, aversion and ignorance often show up in her works in an allegorical form. When they encounter these works, viewers can sense the intimacy while knowing that they are welcome to approach the work from their own individual perspective and sensibility. DeVincentis received her BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD, and Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Printmaking, St. Martins College of Art, London, UK. She has exhibited extensively in the USA and Europe.
Jackie Shatz's abstracted ceramic figuration is inspired by images from literature, including natural history, fairy tales, and mythologies. Historical references such as deities from ancient civilizations meld with the artist's unconscious, creating a sense of otherworldliness. The fluidity of the structure and the ambiguity of the shape allow a space of dialogue between the artist and the audience. Here, having mastered the hybrid but coherent form, Shatz uses her sculptures to record the fleeting moments and ever-changing status in life. Shatz received both her BFA and MFA from Hunter College, New York. She is the recipient of many awards, notably National Endowment for the Arts, Individual Artist Fellowship, and Gottlieb Foundation Individual Support Grant.
Mary Tooley Parker's fiber artworks focus on the interpretations of people and nature, drawn from memories, dreams, or reality. They range from representations of New York everyday street scenes to individuals who inspire Tooley Parker. For example, Gee's Bend Quilter, explores the artists behind the tradition of rural women in Alabama who put themselves, their ideas, and their aesthetics into every inch of their quilts. Tooley Parker’s background in the creative field of fashion publication helped hone her eye for color and composition. Her spectacularly unique color schemes endow the works with remarkable exuberance and vibrance. Tooley Parker received her BFA in Dance from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. She is the recipient of multiple awards and fellowships and has recently exhibited in London and Denmark.
