A free exhibition in Boston that explores New England’s working waterfront includes the work of a Gloucester artist.
Contemporary Climate Gallery, a nonprofit dedicated to emerging artists, will open the five-day exhibit “Working Coast — Below the Line,” Wednesday, Aug. 26, at the Fort Point Arts Community space at The Envoy Hotel in Boston. Inspired by the region’s maritime heritage, the exhibition explores New England’s working waterfront.
One of the show’s three featured artists is H. Wolfe, a Gloucester native whose work draws on New England coastal landscapes, maritime traditions, and nautical architecture using wood, metal and hand-crafted pigments. A graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she also works in an administrative role at the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester.
Wolfe’s work draws directly from the maritime culture that surrounds her, incorporating nautical elements, including cartography and textiles, that become part of her sculptural works that explore the relationship between people and place. Wolfe has created a series of sculptures inspired by the visual language of buoys and navigational markers — “floating alphabets”— for this show, according to an exhibition statement.
“Nautical markers on the ocean constitute their own visual language through form, color, and placement … as they bob on the walls,” Wolfe said in an artist statement.
The exhibition features mixed media paintings and sculptures by Wolfe, along with works by Nikki Ekström and John Mendizabal.
The gallery itself overlooks Fort Point Channel, which played a large role in Boston’s 19th century maritime history.
“Art has the power to help us see familiar places in new ways,” said James LaMarca, founder of Contemporary Climate Gallery. “Growing up in Massachusetts, I am excited to present this exhibition in Fort Point and create a dialogue between the artwork and the city that simply couldn’t happen in a traditional gallery.”
Visitors will have the opportunity to meet the artists. For more information, visit www.contemporaryclimategallery.com.