Alex Geoffrey“Pref”
Imagine, 2023
Artist Bio
Pref grew up in Northwest London and has developed his role and reputation as an international graffiti and mural artist for over 20 years, initially studying Design Communication at Chelsea Collage of Art and working as an art director before going on to focus full time on his art practice. The clear linear elements of his work and Pref’s evolving interest in typography trespass across the borders of fine and graphic art in energetic and intriguing ways, and his work is highly regarded for its ingenious examination of the way we use and perceive lettering.
Artist Statement
I see the Imagine piece as a symbol of all that Boston has to offer. Whether you are a new resident, a visiting tourist, or Bostonian. Imagine what my life will be like living in Boston (new resident), imagine all that we will discover here (tourist), imagine how much this city & view will change over the next 10 years (Bostonian). No matter what drew you to Boston or how much time you’ll be here –the possibilities are endless. Take a moment to pause and contemplate, to gain a new view of the city and perhaps a new perspective on life. The letters appear in a spectrum of colors, implying the stages of the journey you will be going on and also inclusivity. Not just for everyone but for everything, everywhere. To go beyond your imagination.
Ryan Adams & Rachel Gloria Adams
Serendipitous, 2023
Artist Bio
Ryan Adams is a painter and muralist residing in his hometown of Portland, Maine with his wife, Rachel Gloria and their two daughters. His background in traditional graffiti led him to creating large-scale mural work and hand lettered design and signage. His signature ‘gem’ style of work is a geometric breakdown of letterforms with shadows and highlights included to create depth and movement throughout the pieces. His pieces tend to be bold, colorful and clever; often including statements within. Currently, Ryan co-owns and operates a hand painted signage business, designs for a brewery, paints murals any and everywhere and exhibits his work as often as possible.
Rachel Gloria Adams is a multidisciplinary artist living in Portland, ME. Adams has developed a vibrant, graphic pattern-based visual language filled with references to the natural world that posses an heirloom quality. Her work takes form by way of quilting, painting, design and large-scale murals. She moved to Maine in 2005 to pursue her BFA from the Maine College of Art and Design. She has gone on to exhibit artwork at New Systems Laundry, George Marshall Store Gallery, Able Baker, Notch8, Alice Gauvin Gallery and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art. She has attended residencies at Speedwell, Pace House and is an Indigo Arts Alliance David C Driscoll Fellow. In addition to her studio practice, Adams has been commissioned to create murals for several institutions including the Childrens Museum of Portland, University of Maine and the Farnsworth Museum. Rachel also serves as a board member for Space Gallery.
Artist Statement
Serendipitousis a digital mural created by husband-and-wife duo Ryan and Rachel Adams. The piece is a collaboration of their individual styles that alludes to their relationship and foundations in Boston. The central image, a heart in Ryan’s signature geometric ‘gem’ style, is framed in Rachel’s quilt motif that includes Boston specific iconography such as the Zakim Bridge, Citgo Sign and Charles River. Rachel spent her adolescence taking the commuter rail into the city to spend weekends with her father in downtown Boston and eventually moved to Portland, ME to attend Maine College of Art & Design. Ryan, a Portland, Maine native, moved to Boston to attend Emmanuel College. Although the couple never met during their college days, they often reminisce about their time in the city and the likelihood of missing a serendipitous moment while concurrently riding the T ride or being on the same bus ride to and from Boston.
Shane Taremi
Unreal Reality series, 2016-2023
Artist Bio
Shane Taremi is an Iranian-American photographer and digital artist based in Cambridge, MA. In 1977 Tehran, Iran, prior to the revolution, he received his first camera and thus began his artistic journey, documenting Iranians’ ordinary lifestyle before and after self-imposed turmoil. Following a thirty-year scientific career in the United States, he has now recommitted to his artistic practice. Celebrating urban landscapes, he reconstructs these subjects captured through his camera lens and uses the Fibonacci sequence to aesthetically guide the coloration, patterns and compositions of his artwork, combining his scientific and artistic backgrounds. Shane has exhibited his work locally, nationally and internationally in both solo and groups shows. He is actively represented by several art advisory groups throughout the United States.
Artist Statement
I describe my work as exploratory, whimsical, and surreal. My approach is influenced by works of contemporary architectural-surrealist photographers such as Victor Enrich, and Filip Dujardin, and geometrical interplay depicted in works of modern abstract expressionist painters such as Miro, and Mondrian. My Ph.D. training as a scientist has shaped my artistic voice, an effect which can be seen in my most recent series, titled Unreal Reality. In these works, an original architectural photograph shot on location is digitally blended with elements taken from the edges of the frame to create a repeating, expanded landscape. By utilizing the Fibonacci-based sequence of numbers, I produce aesthetically pleasing patterns that build on and re-imagine the original image.
The series is a subjective approach to photography favoring perception over seeing. It is meant to re-invent the viewers’ relationship with the reality of the world around them. The deviation from the norm of realism is emphasized by these large-scale artworks, depicting urban landscapes containing spaces with vast perspectives where buildings soar above the human scale and architectural elements unique to each location produce one of a kind geometric pattern.
What drives me as an artist to produce these artworks is the exploratory nature of the process itself. The journey from an initial scouting and the discovery of an ordinary yet architecturally distinct building, to crafting a whole new surreal urban landscape re-constructed entirely from the elements confined within the original frame. The pieces showcased in this collection were produced form such distinguished buildings located in seven vibrant neighborhoods of Boston.
Mae Chevrette
Back Bay View, 2023
Artist Bio
Mae Chevrette is a mixed media artist inspired by travel, nostalgia and sense of place. She creates vibrant, dynamic paintings by layering her own photography with antique paper, acrylic paint and found objects onto canvas. Mae’s work hangs in public and private collections worldwide and can be viewed online and in her Boston studio. When she isn’t painting, she can be found exploring cities and coastlines with her camera in hand, searching for moments to inspire her next piece of art.
Artist Statement
My artwork explores the relationship between place, time and story. Each painting aims to weave together the beautiful imagery of a location and artifacts of our shared experiences within it; to depict not only how it looks but also how it feels. Back Bay View was created using hundreds of pieces of authentic, weathered antique paper from Boston —maps, postcards, blueprints, handwritten letters and more —intertwined with my own photography and painting techniques to create a tangible sense of place. I have a deep love for Boston, and it was a joy to create a mural that takes viewers on a stroll through the iconic Back Bay, celebrating its historic beauty, modern energy and stories past and present.
Oskar Zieta
Stratus, 2023
Artist Bio
Oskar Zięta is an artist fascinated with the formal properties of metals, which he transforms into sculptures that play with the senses, often intimidate with their scale and cross the border between what is possible and what is only imagined. In his works, he uses his original method of metal forming, which gives him endless possibilities of manipulating the material, while not depriving it of authenticity and craftsmanship naturality.
Artist Statement
TBD