AWARDS SHOW at UNIVERSITY PLACE

What makes an artwork a prize winner, the best of the best, the standout in a field of 650 submissions? How does a curator, museum director, gallery owner or art historian looking at hundreds of artworks, recognize excellence after choosing an exhibition of 110 works? All chosen pieces in the BLUE 2010 exhibition represented high-level execution in chosen media, significant originality and a spark that spoke to the juror. Then the selection of five outstanding works in five disciplines needed more than a spark - these were the works that set the jurors on fire.Each piece in BLUE (only one per artist) suggested depth and breath of an artistic career that would lend to a large exhibition in which each artist could tell a spirited story. The work flows as if each of the five had worked in harmony with the others to create a visual rhythm that is greater than any one part of the exhibition. Combined, this art speaks softly and vibrantly of synchronism and movement.

Chuck Beisch, a lifelong photographer and founder of Chuck Beisch's Creative Services, sees through his lens with the clarity, sparseness and elegance of a graphic designer. Heavy tractor tracks in the sand take the viewer's eye directly where he wanted them to go: into the ocean. An empty beach, probably end of summer, with endless ocean repeated in the waves. Isolation, emptiness, and waiting- yet joy; all, the beach was and will be again. The photographs make your eye move quickly one to next, then back - slowly and patiently. Next to Beisch's tractor tracks is another tractor.

The Raking with Allis, a powerful woodcut by artist, print-maker Holly Meade of Sedgwick, Maine. Meade is a well-known illustrator of children's books, who has won a Caldecott Honor for Hush! A Thai Lullaby. Her beautiful and deeply moving woodcuts speak of emotions and pain, joy and love. Subtle colors and elegant lines etch an old woman's brow as she embraces and is embraced by a young woman whose flawless forehead leans into the ancient figure offering comfort and warmth.

Painter Nella Lush's palette reflects her homeland of Italy with rich, vibrant colors and surfaces that reflect the warmth of Tuscany in the spring, the sunrise in the ruins of Pompeii, and the verdant gardens in Rome, all allowing the viewer his/her own inner story. The Gardener hints of fecundity and spring; thinking of Spring shouts rebirth and awakening. Masterful use of paint in these abstract paintings brings grace and mood to each canvas.

David Lang's Kinetic sculptures are light and understated, but so compelling that they float while commanding the entire atrium of the gallery. These works are kinetic, activated by hidden motion sensors with the viewer causing the flicker of movement to begin. Gently, softly, "Daedelus, On the Other Hand . . ." takes flight. That such harmony can flow, both metaphorically and literally, while projecting an element of whimsy makes viewers crowding around Horse Play, say: "what is making the sea-horses move?" is the fun and fancy in these exquisitely crafted, magical works.

More fun and playfulness in the brilliant mixed media works of Bob Cipriani. They Couldn't Find the Artist So They Hung the Painting is a mixed media work of an artist's shirt filled with the richness of a thousand paintings. Controlled and rich, the work reflects the artist's hand (not seen in shirt) and vision. A series of glossy collages, rich with adventure and movement offer the chance to feel and experience PTown, NYC and the North End of Boston.

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617-876-0246

info@cambridgeart.org
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University Place Gallery
124 Mt. Auburn St.
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

Kathryn Schultz Gallery
25 Lowell Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138