Abstract
We made it to 2018. Now more than ever, we need to pay attention to 'the local', to place, and to the cultures and histories and expressions that rise up from our communities. We need to speak, and listen, and look. This show is about Boston. It is rooted in the Massachusetts landscape and it is founded on the creativity of musicians, poets, activists, and intellectuals who have called Boston (or greater Massachusetts) home. Reaching deep into the history of a place, Everyone has Moved Off to One Side, weaves narratives that reflect on the complex history that lies behind us and propose routes out of this particular American wilderness.
These paintings start with music. The words of Boston’s music scene anchor this new body of work, each image featuring lyrics from the likes of Juliana Hatfield, Come, Galaxy 500, the Lemonheads, Mission of Burma, Human Sexual Response and others. Embedded inside these words are more voices revealing the chorus of the city and state to be more complex and diverse than is often realized. Speaking through the songs are Buckminster Fuller, Malcolm X, Susan B Anthony, Noam Chomsky, Christa McAuliffe, Leonard Nimoy, Donna Summers, John Quincy Adams and many more.