Ashwini Bhat, Alive 1.0, 2018, fired and painted clay, 6" x 12" x 4".

Starting April 6, Lacoste Keane Gallery will be showing Ashwini Bhat: Origin of the Species through April 27. Origin of the Species is a solo exhibition featuring the ceramics of artist Ashwini Bhat. The exhibition is composed of five series, including Origin of the Species–three large sculptures that can be animal or human–and Garden of Earthy Delights–smaller sculptures made with found clay nests created by mud dauber wasps. Bhat intends for her work to make humanity reconsider its own nature. "The show introduces radical but somehow familiar forms that ask us to re-examine Western assumptions about species hierarchy," Bhat says. "We encounter a bestiary in which traces of the human and traces of the animal linger in imagined bodies on the brink of being born." Her work is conceptualized in part from an ethical and philosophical perspective; it aims to encourage viewers to enter the conversation of whether humans are truly the superior animal or if we're more like the rest of the animal kingdom than we might think. There will be an artist talk on Sunday, April 7, at 2:00 p.m. Lacoste Keane Gallery is located at 25 Main Street and Concord, Massachusetts and is open Monday 12:00 p.m.–5:30 p.m. and Tuesday–Saturday 10:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m. For more information, visit lacostekeane.com/ashwini-bhat-origin-of-species.

Hal Foster, Prince Valiant, January 21, 1951 © King Features Syndicate, Inc. International Museum of Cartoon Art Collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum.

Masterpieces from the Museum of Cartoon Art is on view at the Bruce Museum through April 20. This exhibition displays over 100 original works celebrating the history of the cartoon, with everything from comic strips and editorial cartoons to caricature and animation. These works are on loan from The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, who received them as a donation from the original Museum of Cartoon Art. The museum, founded in 1974 in Greenwich, Connecticut, was the first museum dedicated to collecting, preserving and exhibiting cartoon art in America. Over the years it moved to New York and then to Florida, before donating its collection to The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, putting the artwork back in Greenwich where it was first shown. Brian Walker, guest curator and former director of the Museum of Cartoon Art, says, "I'm sure many residents fondly remember the days when the museum was a local attraction. The exhibit is a tribute to my father's dedicated efforts to establish an institution where the public could view cartoon art on a regular basis." The exhibit carries a strong sense of nostalgia, featuring classic comics from series like Prince Valiant, Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes. Every viewer can find something that brings up fond memories and helps them learn something new about cartoons. Bruce Museum is located at 1 Museum Drive in Greenwich, Connecticut and is open Tuesday–Sunday 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. For more information, please visit brucemuseum.org/masterpieces-from-the-museum-of-cartoon-art.

Marc St. Pierre, NB Harbor, 2019 cyanotype print, 16" x 20".

Dedee Shattuck Gallery is showing CAMERA OBSCURA: Pinhole Photography through April 28. The exhibition features the photography of artists Marc St. Pierre and Marian Roth. "Camera obscura," Latin for "dark chamber," is the phenomenon of light piercing a small hole and falling on a dark screen, creating an upside-down and backwards image. St. Pierre and Roth built their own "pinhole cameras" to capture this phenomenon, capturing photos that look less like photos and more like paintings. St. Pierre's dark-toned photos capture nature trails and the urban environment, and Roth's highly contrasted works depict cans and other objects, rooms, and buildings. Both artists reveal new sides to these places and things through the process of camera obscura, giving common scenes and objects an ethereal, other-worldly feel. There will be a reception for CAMERA OBSCURA on Saturday, April 6 from 5:00–7:00 p.m. Dedee Shattuck Gallery is located at 1 Partners' Lane in Westport, Massachusetts and is open Wednesday–Saturday 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. and Sunday 12:00–5:00 p.m. For more information, please visit dedeeshattuckgallery.com/april-2019-exhibition.

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