Boston Biennial IV Juror’s Picks

Artemis Herber

This ethereal post-apocopolyptic mixed media piece is gorgeous, smartly crafted and well seen in terms of color, scale and texture. The artwork is enigmatic as it feels somewhat celebratory and profoundly sad at the same time…I’m not sure if I should be swimming to or away from the distant city. The use of the ribbony water references must be wonderful to experience in real time. Love it. I thought all of this artist’s work was top notch.

Ozlem Ayse Ozgur

I'm struck by the quality of the quilt but also the heartbreaking story it tells. Nineteen years old. Awful. I wish more artists would address subjects that get outside of their personal lives.

David A Lang

Flight has always fascinated me. The fluidity in the movement of the wings and the sense of freedom it elicits is both powerful and moving.

Farzin Foroutan

The image keeps coming back to me and feels a bit like a tension filled Hopper painting. The figures seem to reside in three different worlds while inhabiting the same stage.
Another juror commented "I thought the image from Farzin Foroutan’s Parallel Streams series was beautifully choreographed to convey its message without editorializing".

Shawna Gibbs

My Summer with Optiumus Prime drew me into the world children can inhabit when you are who you think you are.

C Anthony Huber

His gorgeous and layered abstract panels prove that in the right hands painting is nowhere near dead – and actually has a bounding pulse full of vitality and vigor. Food for the eyes!

Michael St Germain

Michael St Germain is an artist’s artist whose practice across multiple media explore formal questions while always providing a satisfying visual experience for the viewer. In this new series made with spray paint, I love the bold and playful use of color and mark-making to achieve a vibrant result.

Andrew Fish

I like the urban feel, the depth provided by the chain link fence, the color plate, and the harmony that is achieved by centering the painting on the two central figures with the painting’s motion pushing us from the gentle green to the more hostile red and blue – all set behind the fence.

Al Harden

I found how beautifully he was able to express the idea of "My Brother's Keeper" in terms of the police brutality and racism crisis facing the black community. I love the image and how brave and beautiful it is.

Kristin Malin

The waterfall becomes metaphorical symbolizes the crossover between the essence of water and its crystallization into other objects, such as trees, the nervous system, etc. Plus it's beautifully drawn.

Leigh Hall

I was drawn to Leigh Hall's Swarm and her delicate depiction of the grotesque. The viewer can almost hear the rising buzz of the approaching swarm.

Nayda Cuevas

Her work speaks to this moment, in 2016, when ethnicity is being used as a political weapon. By reclaiming the #Latina tag, she breaks down barriers, flaunts stereotypes, and literally puts a face to what being #Latina in 2016 really means, using the visual language of our era - social media.

Sammy Chong

I was drawn to the simple and profound quietness of the piece; it is absurd and mundane at the same time. The setting, with the neat bed, pictures and trophies on the wall and walker in the corner set a stage that seemed like a real moment from my future and from many people’s present; making it very timely subject matter. This moment juxtaposed with the placement of the unique bull-like figure not only draws a second glance from the viewer, but makes one pause to reflect more deeply on the situation, one we will all one day feel and experience.
Another juror commented "I quite love this piece. Very thought provoking; touching & humorous. Edward Hopper meets The Museum of Natural History…and then a nursing home. Surrealist and thought provoking. I love the endless narrative and wonderful skill in this drawing. I’m crazy for this drawing!!!

Lisa Reindorf

This compellingly work forces the viewer to humanize the tragedy of these Syrian refugee camps despite a perspective that initially reduces and objectifies it with an allusion to an aerial map . Whether the perspective if high above the clouds or face to face, we are challenged to keep compassion in the mix and acknowledge the brutality and enslavement that war produces.

Mitchel Ahern

Mitchel Ahern successfully marries his concerns with printmaking and the current non-functional state of our union in this witty and subversive piece

Farzaneh and Bahareh Safarani

Alone powerfully represents both the inward content and the outward reflection of a human being in a cultural, social and religious context so important and relevant to understand for the individual and the collective in today's times.

Joan Ryan

Eat Cake embodies a political context of the chaotic factual realties and potential for authoritarian, imperialistic governance we are potentially facing in our national – and worldwide - political arena with the possibility of history repeating itself throughout the world.

Hannah Cole

Husky (pliers) reflects the everyday, mundane, steadfast tools in a workshop used to build our lives day by day. The paintbrush in the hand of the artist in itself shows its own craftsmanship using their masterly trompe l'oeil painting technique.

Walter Kopec

I have always gravitated to conceptual art— and I think Walter Kopec’s piece We Are All In This Together successfully and caustically addresses a range of personal, national and global concerns concerns. Walter’s piece invites individual contemplation of the ways people are driven together and apart: politically, religiously, spiritually, morally, ethically, etc, yet reminds us of our common core.?

dennis miller

The artist creates an entire ecosystem of mind, giving a clue to the origin of light and energy. The sound and visuals are perfectly syncopated, too.