Blogs → Just Looking: New England Art →
Best Art Blogs in New England
A critic's eye on New England art
by Edgar Allen Beem
My limited experience with news blogs has given me the impression that they're wild and lawless places where rampant rumors, unvetted and untrustworthy, and partisan opinions, unexamined and unedited, are passed along willy-nilly by pseudonymous correspondents who could be anyone and anywhere. Of course, that may just be the old ink-stained wretch in me.
I'm aware, however, of some very fine art blogs -- idiosyncratic, yes, but also informative, insightful, and entertaining. I pass them along to you here, as I perceive blogging to be more a matter of conversation than competition.
Modern Art Notes is written by Washington, D.C., art critic and journalist Tyler Green and has been called "the most influential of all visual arts blogs" by the Wall St. Journal. That may be because Green is a professional print journalist who writes knowledgeably about art and artmaking, sharing his passion for contemporary art daily on his blog. MAN also features "Site Seeing," one of the best link lists to arts blogs that I've run across in my Net surfing.
The New England Journal of Aesthetic Research is a regional arts blog written by Greg Cook, an underground cartoonist and journalist rumored to live in or around Gloucester, Massachusetts. Cook's blog is an excellent source of art news and reviews and features a running list of free art exhibitions.
Megan and Murray is the blog of video and installation artists Megan and Murray McMillan, who live in Providence and comment as insiders on the art scenes of Providence and Boston.
Girl in the Green Dress is one of the most active arts blogs in New England. Written by Boston-based freelance interior designer Traci Roloff, Girl in the Green Dress is a feast of personal enthusiasms for architecture and art, furniture and fashion, photography and green design.
Blogs strike me as essentially high-tech diaries or journals, the frequent postings inviting a remote dialogue about art. It's my hope that Just Looking will become a form of dialogue. Although blogs seem less about permanent records of artistic endeavors than about immediate responses, they are nonetheless, like essays and reviews, part of the second life of art.
Reader Comments
Comment from Heather Atwell on March 7, 2008
Those blogs are such fun to look at. Thanks for sharing the links!
Comment from Ed Beem on March 7, 2008
Yes, I was really impressed. It will be great when I can start posting images as well.
Comment from Mary Sheehan Winn on March 10, 2008
Hi Ed, I've been blogging my art for over a year and it has literally opened up a new world for me. The cool thing about blogging is that well known artists and unknown artists from all over the world all are showing their work in a 'virtual' gallery. It creates camaraderie amongst artists from all walks of life. I wander the blogs and am amazed at the beautiful work in all media! The Art world can be kind of snobby and judgmental and this let's everyone in. It's great! Check out my blog at Just Painting http://marysheehanwinn.blogspot.com/
Comment from Ed Beem on March 11, 2008
From Just Looking to Just Painting. Very smooth. Love your brushy, painterly style and the simple humanity of your paintings. Where can folks see them for real, as opposed to hyper-real?
Comment from Kelly Schwark on March 14, 2008
Thanks Edgar for letting me feast my creative soul on some more great blog sites!
As an artist who has just started testing the waters of freelancing AND blogging, I have found it a wonderful way to ease into this competitive world. It's a rough place for a sensitive soul, but sometimes a supportive comment left by a stranger is just the boost you need to pick up that pencil again! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for allowing us to just look! Kelly http://www.kellyschwark.blogspot.com/
Comment from Jo-Ann Castano on July 12, 2009
Greg Cook, The New England Journal of Aesthetic Research, was from Gloucester and still known for floating around here. He has moved but you can always find him through the journal. Another online blog art magazine that has recently launched covering arts and entertainment North of Boston is the art*throb magazine. Visit http://www.nsartthrob.com Artists, writers and journalists that have been involved in its making say it feels like art throb is a movement.
Comment from Heather Craig on February 25, 2010
Good blog sites posted already!
I am a fine artist (big floral still life) with a website and a blog. http://hmcraigart.blogspot.com/
http://hmcraigart.com/index.html
Comment from Linda Post on October 17, 2011
Ed, how do I contact you to send you arts press materials by snail mail and/or email? Thanks, Linda
Comment from Ed Beem on October 18, 2011
Linda, Mail to: 130 Newell Rd Yarmouth, ME 04096
You can call me at 207-846-3177.
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