Since time immemorial spirituality and symbolism has played an important role in the arts. The 2020 International Juried Show at Beacon Gallery calls artists to take this concept of the “totem”, an item that represents a symbol of a quality or concept (spiritual or not), and to submit artwork on this theme. The artwork may be in any medium that feels appropriate.

We invite artists to explain their works in short paragraphs in order that their importance or symbolic nature may be adequately appreciated by the jury.

Jurors

Lydia Gordon is the associate curator for exhibitions and research at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA. Gordon is the coordinating curator for Hans Hofmann: The Nature of Abstraction and curator of Vanessa Platacis: Taking Place. Upcoming projects include Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle, accompanied by the multi-author scholarly publication, featuring her essay “History Forward: Jacob Lawrence and Contemporary Art.” Gordon also serves as an adjunct professor of Modern Art History at Montserrat College of Art. She earned her BA in art administration from Simmons College in 2010 and her dual MA in art history, theory and criticism, art administration and policy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2017.

YoAhn Han is a Korean painter based in Boston whose work is a visual dialogue between suppression and desire, a duality which speaks to both his experience of cerebral arteriovenous malformation and to his bifurcated cultural identity.

He received his MFA 2D at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and obtained a Bachelors of Fine Art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). YoAhn’s work has been shown internationally, in the United States, South Korea, and the Netherlands. Recent solo shows include “Metamorphic Desire” at Essex Art center (Jan, 2018), “My Princess, Bari” at ARTMORA Gallery in New York, “Alluring Confinement” at the Artlery 160 in Boston, and 매혹적 가두어짐 (Enchanting Box) in Seoul, Korea. Han has a particular interest in Korean Totems.

Christine O’Donnell is the Owner and Gallery Manager of Beacon Gallery. Christine has juried many shows around the Boston area for galleries, art associations and museums.

Christine is also a member of Newton, Massachusetts’s Cultural Council, which distributes overs $30,000 in grants annually. Christine has a master’s degree from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts and a bachelor’s degree from College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.