×

Arts & Culture: Visual art in Amherst, theater at UMass and Northampton, and more

  • “Beach Bound” by Eric Broudy, part of a photo exhibit this month at Galley A3 in Amherst. Photo by Eric Broudy/from Galley A3 website

  • “Better Days” by Larry Rankin, part of a photo exhibit this month at Galley A3 in Amherst. Photo by Larry Rankin/from Galley A3 website

  • Oil paintings by Valerie Bassett are on view at the Burnett Galley at Amherst’s Jones Library this month.  Image from Burnett Gallery website

  • “Orlando,” a play adapted from a Virginia Wolff novel, takes place Nov. 12 and 16-19 at the Rand Theater at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Image from UMass Theater

  • Chilean-born singer Natalia Bernal and her ensemble come to CitySpace in Easthampton Nov. 16 in a benefit to renovate the city’s Old Town Hall. Image from CitySpace website


Monday, November 21, 2022
Photos, oils on display in Amherst

AMHERST — It’s a busy month in town this month when it comes to art, starting with Gallery A3, where work by photographers Eric Broudy and Larry Rankin is on display.

“A Look Through Two Lenses” finds both artists exploring detail and abstraction in photographs taken on Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, from Broudy’s “Beach Bound,” a partial portrait of a person in shorts against a bright yellow car, and Rankin’s look at worn row boats.

Rankin says his new images “represent what you might see if you pause and observe, if you imagine and wait, or if you come back the next day when the light might be better.”

Broudy and Rankin will discuss their work in an online forum Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m., and the discussion will include a conversation with Northampton photographer Stephen Petegorsky and a look at his work.

Across the street from Galley A3 at the Burnett Gallery in Jones Library, oil paintings by Jo-Ann Denehy and Valerie Bassett are on exhibit through Nov. 29. Denehy focuses on landscapes, while Bassett offers still lives and local scenes.

And at Hope & Feathers Framing and Gallery, John Krifka’s “Mostly Flowers” features graphically colorful and intimately scaled images of flora.

 

Becoming a feminist

HADLEY — In 2018, Northampton trauma therapist Peter Pruyn began writing a memoir about how he came to be a feminist. For the book’s release, he created a reading based on some excerpts from the memoir, to which he added some improvised piano playing.

From that experience, Pruyn (pronounced “prine”) has created a one-man, autobiographical play called “Up: One Man’s Journey to Feminism.” The production’s subtitle, he notes, speaks to a two-fold goal: to raise awareness of gender inequality in our society, and to raise the visibility of local organizations that work in the areas of gender equality and trauma prevention.

“Up,” which takes place at Happier Valley Comedy Nov. 20 and 27 at 2:45 p.m., is based on chapters from Pruyn’s life, including attending an all-boys primary school, being the only man in a women’s studies class in college, and working as a bush pilot in Alaska. He’s also drawn on his experience helping female survivors of trauma.

Pruyn also adds piano music to these vignettes, and there will be an audience feedback session after the play’s conclusion.