Escher Series, # 3, 2014, 12" x 12" x 12", bird's eye walnut and quilted maple, one compartment

Currently showing until January 6, 2018 at the Society of Arts + Crafts is "Fantasy Architectures: Sculptural Boxes," an exhibition featuring the sculptures of artist Jay Rogers. Rogers has been making art for over thirty years, and his current series is inspired by the likes of M.C. Escher and Giovanni-Battista Piranesi. Each sculpture differs in size, scope, and medium, but the one thing they seem to have in common is the puzzling nature of their construction. It's difficult to see where a piece begins or ends, and the strange optical illusions in each piece could hold one's attention for hours. The sculpture "Escher Series #3" takes clear inspiration from Escher with its tiny staircases to nowhere and walls and floors that run into each other. But there's a basis to the madness: The sculpture has three façades that can be slid apart, allowing one to lift the top of the sculpture and expose a hidden compartment. Rogers describes the piece as "hard to explain, harder to visualize, and a nightmare to make!" There may be no better words to describe the works in "Fantasy Architectures:" Improbable, perplexing, but above all, captivating. The Society of Arts + Crafts is located at 100 Pier 4, Suite 200, in Boston, Massachusetts and is open Tuesday - Saturday 10:00am - 6:00pm and Thursday 10:00am - 9:00pm. For more information, please visit www.societyofcrafts.org/exhibitions/current-exhibition/fantasy-architectures.

Christopher W. Benson, The Quilter's Daughter, 2012-14, oil on linen, 48 x 96 inches. Courtesy of the Artist and Jessica Hagen Gallery, Newport, RI.

Newport Art Museum is showing "Pictures & Windows: The Paintings of Christopher W. Benson from 1975 to 2017" until December 31. The exhibition reveals the development of Benson's style over the forty years he's been a painter. After graduating from Rhode Island School of Design, he traveled to various cities across America, incorporating the things he saw and the people he met into his works. His influences are many, from experiences he's had to other artists he's enjoyed. All these inspirations have combined to create a style unique to Benson; recognizable elements forming something completely new. He's painted land- and streetscapes based on numerous cities utilizing various genres, from realism to abstraction. The one commonality that ties his works together, from the earliest pieces to the most recent, is perhaps the feeling: Each work is evocative of America and its culture at the most intimate level. The scenes are familiar in a way that's hard to articulate, like a less dramatic but more down to earth version of Norman Rockwell's works, showcasing snapshots of American life that anyone can relate to. In a time where Americans are more divided than ever, "Pictures & Windows" provides a kind reminder of the ways in which we remain the same. Newport Art Museum is located at 76 Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island and is open Tuesday - Saturday 10:00am - 4:00pm and Sunday 12:00pm - 4:00pm. For more information, please visit www.newportartmuseum.org/Exhibitions/Now-on-View/Pictures-Windows.

Deirdre Barrett

Darwin's Ltd is featuring "Exhibition of Digital Dream Art" until January 15, 2018. This exhibit is produced by Cambridge Art Association (CAA) as part of their Satellite Spaces program. CAA exhibits art and offers educational opportunities to facilitate communication between artists, art enthusiasts, and collectors. "Exhibition of Digital Dream Art" showcases the artwork of Deirdre Barrett, a Harvard professor, psychologist, writer, and artist. Barrett is primarily known for her research and studies of dreams, on which she has published several books. One has to wonder: What does a person who studies dreams for a living dream about themselves? Thanks to Barrett's recent foray into art, this question has an answer. Barrett bases her pieces off her own dreams, and creates them by digitally manipulating images and printing them on aluminum. The works are psychedelic and dazzling, utilizing a rainbow of color with emphasis on emerald greens and deep navy blues. The longer one looks at a piece, the more they notice: The bodies of animals meeting in the middle, the faces that spring up in the environment, the eyes in places where eyes aren't meant to be. As Barrett explains, "My goal is for the viewer to experience a connection with the dream world...to connect with their own nocturnal realms from the vantage of the waking self." Indeed, the dreamscape depicted in her work is unique to herself yet startlingly familiar in how it blurs elements of fantasy and reality. If one has ever dreamed, they can find common ground in Barrett's work. Darwin's Ltd is located at 1629 Cambridge Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts and is open Monday - Saturday 6:30am - 9:00pm and Sunday 7:00am - 9:00pm. For more information, please contact Deirdre Barrett at 617-828-8691 or at dbarrett@hms.harvard.edu.

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