Great weekend for touring the galleries

It was a great weekend for touring the downtown galleries. The weather was warm, a respite from this long winter. Touring the galleries made me wish I had made it downtown for the last gallery crawl. There were some very strong shows, one of which closed this past weekend.

Terry Boyd and the echoes seemed to cry savagely

Terry Boyd's show at 709 Gallery was so serene. Intricate, detailed ink drawings that subtly incorporated thread and mylar fill the gallery. I particularly liked and the echoes seemed to cry savagely, which had this one tiny layer of mylar. The show reflected the season, in its starkness. Totally a subjective reaction on my part, and there is definitely more to the show than a simple homage to winter. It brought to my mind a sense of landscape, especially here in our region with its hills.

Unfortunately, this is the exhibit that closed last weekend. However, Terry Boyd has documented many of the works in neverlands on his website.

Masks at Shaw Galleries

I stopped in Shaw Galleries while I was downtown. The gallery had its usual store of historic maps and small statuary. But installed above eye level was this great collection of masks. These are part of Kurt Shaw's collection that he has been amassing over the years, brought to Pittsburgh from South America, Northwest America and Africa.

Toby Atticus Fraley The Secret Life of Robots

You've probably seen Fraley's Robot Repair on Sixth Ave. Toby Atiicus Fraley has brought his robots to Space Gallery with the The Secret Life of Robots. The gallery is filled with several installations of robots in their everyday life.

At first blush, I expected to be amused by this exhibit. It does lend itself to kitsch, with its assemblage of thrift store objects and 50s style furnishing. Although the scenes reflect several stages in life, there were a few that spoke about the travails of the elderly, like the one above of a robot that is struggling to get to the phone after suffering a fall. The installations were illustrative, and seemed to hang on a Rockwellian view of common life experiences Even when the installation was more somber than is common in Norman Rockwell's work; maybe it was the details of the installation furnishings that brought this to mind.

Toby Fraley has documented many of the works on his site. The exhibit has just opened and will be on display at Space Gallery through April 27, 2014.