SPACE loves good press!
ARCHIVE:
July 20, 2005
Thanks to a grant from the Maine Arts Commission, we're able to commission artists to work on projects related to our fall show, "Reclaiming Space." Woo-hoo! Stay tuned for details about that show.
April 7, 2005
New art added to the Art*O*Mat machine.
DON'T GO 'ROUND ARTLESS!
March 29, 2005
CALL FOR ENTRIES:
SPACE Gallery and the ICA at MECA are looking for artists to submit work
for an evening of short PowerPoint presentations. The PowerPoint presentations
should be ready to view as a slideshow, and should be no longer than 3
minutes in length. Submissions will be juried by a review panel. Selected
entries will be shown on Thursday, May 5, 2005 at 7:00 PM at SPACE Gallery
in Portland.
The slideshows can be saved in movie form, and use of soundtracks is encouraged.
Please set screen resolution to the highest quality settings.
Entries on CD-ROM may be mailed to: SPACE Gallery, attn: PowerPoint, 538
Congress St., Portland, ME 04101. Submissions fewer than 4MB may be emailed
to: info@space538.org.
Please submit entries by Monday, May 2.
March 1, 2005
SPACE Announces its OPEN HOUSE scheduled for Wednesday, April 13, from 6-8 PM. More information to come.
February 1, 2005
SPACE has joined the Time Dollar Network! Now you can earn tickets to SPACE events by providing services to Time Dollar members. Or you can volunteer at SPACE and earn services.
Visit New England Time Banks for information about how to join.
January, 2005
SPACE was awarded honors in several categories in the Portland Phoenix
BEST OF 2004 poll:
Readers' Picks:
Best Art Gallery — SPACE
Best Club for All Ages — SPACE
Best Club for Live Music — SPACE
Editor's Pick:
Best Alternative to a Pack of Squares (for the Art*O*Mat
machine)
The Portland
Press Herald, November 10, 2005
Film festival puts faces on issues
By RAY ROUTHIER, Staff Writer
"Sometimes you have to see the problem to know there is a problem.
That's the idea behind the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival,
making its fourth yearly trip to Portland s SPACE Gallery this week.
The international group Human Rights Watch created the traveling festival
to put a face on issues like free speech, slavery, illegal imprisonment,
and forced prostitution."
Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
The Maine Sunday
Telegram, October 30, 2005
Children of `Brothels' share images of hope, inspiration
by BOB KEYES, Staff Writer
"Perspective is everything. Give a kid a camera and there's no telling what he'll come up with. Beginning this week, a Portland gallery will exhibit nearly two dozen photographs taken by the children of prostitutes in Calcutta's Red Light District. The children were the subject of the film "Born Into Brothels," which won an Academy Award for best documentary earlier this year."
Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
The Portland Phoenix, September 16 - 22, 2005
Grass never greener
Space reclaims space
By CHRIS THOMPSON
"... The most interesting way to present this review would have been to skip out of generating 900 words of text ... and to have shown a half-page image of plain green grass instead. It would have been more than just a seamless response to the spectacle SPACE Gallery produced for the opening of their current show, 'Reclaiming Space,' by lining a block of Congress Street with sod — and doing it so sensitively that it even hugged the transition from sidewalk to curb to street like the staircase carpeting in a posh hotel. "
The Portland Forecaster, August 4, 2005
Indoor, outdoor spaces used to kick off new exhibit
By JOSH HARRIMAN
"A juggler on a tight-rope, vaudeville roller-skaters performing
to Tom Waits, dumpsters turned into small theaters, a classical quartet
playing on a grass-covered street and a dancer twirling balls of fire
to a live jazz accompaniment were just some of the artists performing
on Congress Street last Friday.
The performances were part of the opening gala for the 'Reclaiming Space'
exhibit that will be on display all month at Space, 538 Congress St. Inside
Space were the works of artists from New York City, Cambridge and Vancouver.
The pieces were a discussion of public space, particularly inside the
urban environment."
The Portland
Press Herald, September 5, 2005
Public-art discussion takes to the street - Congress, to be exact
By JUSTIN ELLIS, Staff Writer
"When you think of art, not in any sort of nebulous, spiraling and
general way, where does your mind put it physically?
Do you think of a gallery, small and charming with track lighting and
a wine course? Or maybe a museum, tall, hushed hallways and your reflection
on the case covering some masterwork.
What about outside?
Public art seems to be the next step in the evolution of creative expression.
Not just a work that sits in the open air, but something that is open
to interpretation and not part of any plan.
It's time to start thinking about taking it back, art for the public that
is. At least that's what the people over at Space gallery want us to start
thinking about."
Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
The Portland Phoenix, August 5-11, 2005
Best Medicine: Jon Brumit sets up at SPACE
By MAGGIE KNOWLES
"Revenge: one of the powerful driving forces of human nature. We consider it daily . . . . Though we dream of dropping anvils on these people who are out to ruin our day, few of us take it to the edge of bringing fantasy to fruition. Enter Jon Brumit, a "revolutionary social art service entrepreneur who takes one for the team and still doesn't turn a profit." A revenge connoisseur, if you will."
The Portland Forecaster, August 4, 2005
Taking up Space: An artist installs himself on Congress Street
By KATE BUCKLIN
"You may have noticed the suitcase, night stand and blue sleeping
bag strewn in the front window of Space gallery on Congress Street this
week.
If you walked by a little later at night, there’s a chance you may
have also seen someone sleeping in the bag.
For the gallery’s latest exhibit, “Vendetta Retreat,”
artist Jon Brumit has become part of his work, living in and wandering
around the downtown alternative arts venue. The multi-dimensional installation
includes the office/living space set up in the front window, labeled “Revenge
Clinic.”
The Portland Forecaster, June 18, 2005
Secrets revealed; Exhibit makes the private public
By KATE BUCKLIN
"There are dozens of Portlanders walking around town a little less burdened these days, having finally revealed things they’ve kept secret for years, or maybe decades.
Their secrets are being shared with the world, or at least the part of
it that travels down Congress Street and stops to look at the curious
little slips of paper covering the front window at Space gallery. It is
a mix of local secrets and secrets from Liberia, Chile and Libertyville,
Ohio, among other spots.
Someone killed their neighbor’s chihuahua with a pellet gun; someone
else loves France.
The interactive exhibit at Space, the alternative arts venue next to Maine College of Art, is by Boston artist Cathy McLaurin. It is called “what haunts ...” and has been attracting a lot of attention from passersby on Congress Street since it’s installation June 3.
Portland Press Herald, June 13, 2005
In spirit of prom, and to benefit important space, let's party
By JUSTIN ELLIS, Staff Writer
"On Saturday the omni-arts gallery in Portland is holding its second
annual prom, a night they promise will offer a touch of class, some music
to take you back and an all-around good time.
Now in year two, the prom is an excuse to party - and perhaps dress up
- with a purpose. Namely, helping to keep Space a part of Portland's growing
arts community - or creative economy if you use big words."
READ
MORE
Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
Art New England April/May, 2005
Light in the Dark
BY LAUREN FENSTERSTOCK
"Light has given rise to countless metaphors and meanings. Our reliance on light over centuries has led to a natural association between light and all that's good, nurturing, spiritual, and transcendant. The artists in this exhibition claim light as the essential characteristic of their work, used to dramatic effect set against the backdrop of the darkened and cavernous expanse of SPACE gallery."
http://www.artnewengland.com/ (text not available online)
The Portland Phoenix Feb. 4 - 10, 2005
The Thing is
Bill Morrison’s Decasia and Thursday night
BY CHRIS THOMPSON
"Thursday, February 3, marks the beginning of a bold experiment between the Institute of Contemporary Art at the Maine College of Art and the SPACE Gallery that is engineered to produce the kind of free play that makes art worth taking seriously in the age of empire."
The Portland Phoenix January 21 - 27, 2005
We are moths
Attractive lights at SPACE
BY MAGGIE KNOWLES
When you first walk in, you think they’re closed. But, as your eyes fight to adjust to the cave-like dark, a small movement arouses your peripheral vision. Randy Devost’s tiny Christmas bulbs fall almost to the floor, led in abstract circles by wavering tufts of air. It is a much cooler version of those clacker balls CEOs keep on their desk to distract their children. Now you are intrigued. Through the dim gallery, pockets of light pop at you, inviting you closer.
The Portland Phoenix BEST OF 2004
Best Alternative to a Pack of Squares
BY THE EDITORS
Cigarettes are so damn expensive these days, it’s amazing that anyone
can afford to smoke, let alone that you used to be able to stuff quarters
in a machine and get a pack of smokes back. Back in 1997, when a cigarette
machine was banned for its intended use, a couple of artists figured out
a way to make use of the machine’s function and simultaneously encourage
a healthy alternative to the detrimental habit. The result is smokin’
pieces of miniature art.
The Art*O*Mat is a retro, chromed out, lit-up staple in SPACE Gallery’s
entryway. Portland is host to one of only 71 machines across the United
States that represent more than 400 artists from 10 different countries.
The machines themselves are all different, too. The hosting venue commissions
Artists in Cellophane, the sponsoring organization of Art*o*mat, to prepare
the machine specifically for that venue. The founders view it not only
as an art dispenser, but also as an installation piece itself.
The best part is that it’s fun to use. It’s a game of chance
when you pull a knob. You may get a small portrait, a two-inch high comic
book, a rubber figurine — there’s no telling. All for a small
fee of five dollars, but don’t be confused because there’s
no currency slot involved here. Ask one of SPACE’s kind bartenders
to buy a token and wait for the sound of the clink against the metal.
Space is anxiously awaiting a chance to feature local artists’ work
in the machine. Submissions are always welcomed at the Art*O*Mat Web site.
Visit www.artomat.org
Other awards--chosen by readers:
Best Art Gallery — SPACE
Best Club for All Ages — SPACE
Best Club for Live Music — SPACE
