Looking at Art Up Close and Personal with Deborah Forman, 5 Wednesdays, March 2-30, 2-4 pm

March 2 – 30, 2022 (5 weeks)

2:00 – 4:00 pm

Non-Members $125

Members $110

Docent $95

The five classes of the course will cover work by 31 artists associated with the Cape with an eye to examining how they approach figures, landscapes, and abstractions. We will also look at work that crosses those lines and provides an enigmatic quality or references cultural or political concerns. The focus will be on looking closely at each artwork, at the composition, various styles, expressions, and emotional aspects. Because Forman has interviewed and written about all of these artists, she will offer anecdotes and personal analysis. Class participation will be encouraged. Art is subjective, open to the personal interpretation of the viewer. Each of us responds in different ways, and our impressions, sense of aesthetics, and emotional responses can be vastly different, so exploring them during the class should be a dynamic and fun experience.

COVID policy:

Masks are encouraged, but not mandatory. Vaccination cards are not required. For more information, visit www.CCMoA.org

Cancellation policy:

CCMoA must be notified 1 week prior for refund.

Class 1

This section will look at eight artists whose work focuses on the figure, including both painters and sculptors. Painters Mel Leipzig, Robert Henry, and John Grillo set their figures in an environment. Selina Trieff, Jim Peters and Patrick Webb primarily take a closer look at the figure, although with Peters and Webb the context is significant. The classically referenced sculptures of Romolo Del Deo take you back to an earlier time. Whereas Penelope Jencks’ figures are planted in the here and now.

Class 2

On the Cape, artists have been continually enamored by the landscape and the variety of expressions is almost limitless. Jon Friedman’s work has a discerning photographic quality. Paul Resika pares down his boats and piers and lighthouses to a symbolic element. You can see Sal Del Deo’s love of Provincetown in his paintings. Marc Kundmann and Megan Hinton take a structural approach. Ed Chesnovitch’s colors bring quiet marshes to vivid life. Donald Beal’s landscapes sometimes verge on abstraction. And Anne Packard’s paintings evoke the serene aspect of seaside views.

Class 3

Many artists’ works cross the genre lines and look toward a distinct narrative, mystery, or an enigmatic aspect. Tabitha Vevers’ figurative work has cultural and political references, as does the sculpture of her mother, Elspeth Halvorsen. Carmen Cicero’s paintings have mysterious undertones, and some are amusing with social implications. With his collages and assemblages Varujan Boghosian wittily deals with irony and often offers the viewer with a puzzle. Richard Neal’s mixed-media portraits take on different looks, depending on how close you view them. Ellen Le Bow’s linear black-and-white images have mystical connections. Joerg Dressler’s misty landscapes express another-world quality.

Class 4

Abstract art, which departs from familiar visual references, opens the door to many interpretations. The work of Robert Motherwell ruggedly explores the gestural dynamics of many of his fellow Abstract Expressionists, as well as painterly effects. Helen Frankenthaler’s stained canvases take a lyrical approach. Grace Hopkins photographs zero in on a subject, defining its abstract qualities. Kate Nelson has a connection to Frankenthaler. James Wolf’s abstractions float along serendipitously. Mike Wright finds structure a driving force in her work, as do painters Howard Barnes and Michael Carroll.

Class 5

The final class of the series will include a panel discussion with invited artists discussed throughout the course.

Instructor Bio:

Deborah Forman is the author of five books: Perspectives on the Provincetown Art Colony, (2011); Contemporary Cape Cod Artists: Images of Land and Sea (2013); Contemporary Cape Cod Artists: People & Places (2014); Contemporary Cape Cod Artists: On Abstraction (2015); and Art from Cape Cod: Selections from the Cape Cod Museum of Art(2016), co-written with Edith Tonelli. All were published by Schiffer Books. She wrote the script, conducted the interviews, and worked on the filming for Art In Its Soul, an award-winning documentary on the history of the Provincetown art colony, aired on public television stations nationwide. Also, an artist, she is represented by Miller White Fine Arts in South Dennis. She studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Philadelphia Museum School of Art, and has a degree in journalism from Temple University. She has curated several shows at the museum and has taught courses at the museum, Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill, and Open University of Wellfleet.