BRATTLEBORO — Although New England is experiencing an old-fashioned, snow-filled winter, spring is gathering to burst into bloom at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) on Saturday, March 15.
That's when “Flora: A Celebration of Flowers in Contemporary Art” fills four of the museum's six galleries with vibrant work by 13 artists.
Opening alongside “Flora” are “Out of the Shadows: Paintings by Jim Giddings” and “Water Studies, Brattleboro,” a site-specific installation by Jennifer Stock.
The three new exhibits open to BMAC members at 11 a.m. and to the general public at 2 p.m.
According to Mara Williams, BMAC's chief curator, given the incredible beauty and variety of flowers we might well expect to find representations of them by artists working in virtually every medium. And in fact we do.
“The artists chosen for this exhibit draw freely from established artistic conventions. They find inspiration in flowers themselves and in a host of generative sources, creating work that is deeply connected to aesthetic tradition yet uniquely fresh,” Williams explained.
Those artists include Robert Kushner, whose 18-foot-wide painting “Indian Summer – Homage to Bonnard,” anchors the north wall of the museum's Wolf Kahn & Emily Mason Gallery; and Bobbi Angell, whose exquisite botanical illustrations share space in the ticket gallery with living orchids on loan from Windham Flowers of 178 Main St.
Janet Fish's dazzling painted bouquets are complemented by Nan Montgomery's minimalist renderings of lilies.
Anne Morgan Spalter's kaleidoscopic videos, displayed on large screens and on small, gem-like objects, create flower-like images from diverse source footage.
Marta Bernbaum's glass flowers and Floyd Elzinga's steel leaves and pine cones add dimension to a visually rich, strikingly colorful exhibit.
“Out of the Shadows” and “Water Studies, Brattleboro” close May 4. “Flora” remains on view through June 22.
Williams said BMAC is excited to present a series of related spring events such as artist talks by Angell, Giddings, Spalter, and Tom Fels; a guided wildflower walk at Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center; a tour of North Hill Garden in Readsboro; an orchid care workshop; and a lecture on the status of Vermont's bumblebees.