"Beauty is a manifestation of secret natural laws, which otherwise would have been hidden from us forever."
Ariel Freiberg
Ariel Freiberg’s new installation, “Star Mediums” features large-scale site-specific charcoal drawings for the public spaces of the Inside-Out Gallery. These drawings omit the identifying features of faces, giving stage for foreheads and hair within discrete torn shapes. The hair and forehead portraits are clearly someone’s hair, yet the passerby is denied the resolution of the identifying features.
The two faces below the red CVS signage “Photo Center” express intention towards the fugitive nature of identity and representation. The woman’s style hair on the left, sports two hairdos. Her vision and voice and sense of smell are absence from the portrait. The man’s head indicates corrective wear paired with a collared shirt. A dark void obscures his main features.
In the second window, below “Beauty” is a woman with wide style hair, commonly seen in ads promoting beauty products.
“Star Mediums” viewed from the street, in spaces typically used to sell and promote products, hold frame for incomplete portraits, which remain in frozen states degeneration.
About the Artist
Ariel Freiberg earned her MFA in painting from Boston University in 2004 and a BA from Smith College in 2002. Freiberg has upcoming exhibitions at Bannister Gallery at Rhode Island College and Carillon Gallery, Tarrant County College, Fort Worth, TX. Unquenchable Thirst is her current solo show at the Sherman Gallery at Boston University. Unquenchable Thirst runs from September through October 23rd 2015.
Chora a two-person show at Fort Point Art Center, was featured in the Boston Globe in December 2014. In coordination with the exhibition, there was a panel discussion with Afshan Bokari, Art Historian, artist, Audrey Goldstein, and curator Trevor Smith of the Peabody Essex Museum.
In the fall of 2014, Earth's Touch, a site-specific mural size painting, was seen at Frame 301 Gallery, Montserrat College of Art. Freiberg curated "The Country Between Us" at the New Art Center in Newton in the fall of 2013. In June 2013, Freiberg's solo show, Blazoning Arms at Miller Yezerski Gallery received reviews from ARTnews and the Boston Globe. She is a recent recipient of a 2011 and 2013 Visual Arts Fellowship from the Somerville Arts Council. She is also the recipient this year for the Tenot Foundation Bursary for the artist residency, Camac in Marnay sur Seine, France. The award was announced in the April issue of Modern Painters.
Freiberg is currently an adjunct lecturer at Suffolk University and she has also been a visiting artist at Harvard University, Dartmouth College, Rhode Island School of Art and Design, Smith College. Freiberg's work has also been seen at Laconia Gallery, Tufts Art Gallery, Danforth Museum, Oresman Gallery at Smith College, and the Art Center in the Republic of Macedonia. She is represented by Miller Yezerski Gallery and Harmon Gallery.
Contact info: [email protected]
About the Inside-Out Gallery
Initiated in 2009, The Inside-Out Gallery is located in the CVS Window in Davis Square, a unique space that allows the public to view an eclectic array of works from artists and local organizations each month. The mission of the Somerville Arts Council is to cultivate and celebrate the creative expressions of the Somerville community. Through innovative collaborations and quality programming we work to make the arts an integral part of life reflective of our diverse city.