October 14, 2023
On view: September 7 - October 14, 2023
Gallery hours: Thursdays and Saturdays, 1 - 4 pm
83 Spring Street, Watertown, MA
More photos to follow.
https://www.storefrontartprojects.com/jasmine-chen-body-work-and-practice
This little outpost is a diamond in the rough. Tucked away on a residential street in Watertown, it regularly hosts work by a range of artists, mainstream to modern. The current show “jasmine chen: bodywork + practice” is a lalapalooza of style and content.
Owner Ellen Wineberg says Chen was born in China, has been steeped in creating art since she was 2 years old, graduated from Harvard then Brandeis with a degree in economics. She has been demonstrating her technique at StorefrontArtProjects using traditional Chinese brushes and ink pots. Channeling her inner child, she connects with her muse of the moment, has painted using strands of her hair and pressed lipsticked lips together against paper to make small prints that remind me of Marilyn Monroe blowing kisses with her pouty lips. Oh, and composed one print by pounding her inked shoe on wet paper.
Her most striking ink wash paintings gain power from simplicity and technique by using traditional Chinese brushes and ink. Subtle gradations from shades of black and gray display an uncanny depth. Examining the prints on the walls and lying on the storefront windowsill feels like a form of walking meditation. In these tumultuous times, a visit to Storefront’s Jasmine Chen exhibit inspires a deep cleansing breath.
I had arrived at 11:30 AM, way before the gallery's opening time of 1 PM. Ms; Wineberg informed me that the artist would return in the afternoon, the last day of her show.
I returned to watch Ms. Chen make an ink wash portrait of a young boy and his sister as their mother watched. While sitting on a folding chair taking notes, I was asked if I'd sit for a portrait...oh boy...yes! And was more than happy to make a donation to the artist.
First visit11:30 AM



Scene across from 83 Spring Street Watertown MA reflected in storefront window

Passersby drawn inside by this display of Jasmine Chen's inkwash paintings in storefront window

Below photos...Chen captures subtle nuances of what is under the surface by the way her subjects choose to pose...

and viewers interpret...

while translating ink and paper...

into their own ...

ideas of who each of them were in person.

ABOVE...Chen's work on display in storefront window is as revealing as a photograph.

Creative Chen used her own hair to create this linear tangle... i would have loved to watch her make this one displayed on gallery wall.

Tabletop on which Chen painted this afternoon.

Chen used a painting knife to apply thick layers of oil paint to the portrait above.

Luminous color shows that Chen has mastered oil paint.

Four of a kind ...

Portrait Jasmine Chen made by pressing her lips to the paper...she's created with her hair, boots and now her lips!

Artist bio...

Sunlit office behind the showroom

Gallery owner Ellen Wineberg holding an ink wash painting by Jasmine Chen. Do you recognize the subject on the left side of the portrait in her hands?
Chen portraits are for sale, not her portraits of family.
Coming soon...Jasmine Chen Part 2 - watching the artist at work.
Photos by Paul A. Tamburello, Jr.
Keith Jarrett: The Köln Concert
From the archives... Sad that Jarrett's retirement is in tatters today.
Keith Jarrett, the Köln Concert concert, 1975
Keith Jarrett totally improvising, letting his inner skylark free on stage in front of a huge audience outdoors in Germany. His recording, made in 1975, became an early morning mantra that transformed me, my psyche tagging along, into an out of the blue surprising Zen moment .by turns igniting ruminative contemplative cheerful and evocative interior solos of my own, ping-ponging as unexpected flights as Jarrett’s fingers press on just about every one of the 88 keys on the keyboard. Worries about my to-do list evaporated like mist on a summer morning, flashes like heat lighting on a hot August night inexplicably exposed vignettes of my life, past loves, dreams, disappointments, aspirations, regrets for things done/not done in a pure matter of fact way, no finger-pointing here only gratitude for having had them.
Music that appeals to me resonates in wells of memory so deep I can hear an echo as I peer down and exhale. Feels like Jarrett is peering down his own well.
I picture him hovering over the keyboard, seemingly oblivious to the crowd of thousands quietly observing his creative genius, fingers on the keys, feet on the pedals, displaying a cognitive sentient mirror through which the audience can see themselves transformed into a dynamic, representational sense of their own interior landscape, like a Whistler watercolor, with a touch of his their own hearts in the wet paper.
POST SCRIPT
A must-read thoughtful commentary about the history of the concert that gave me insights into the concert and Keith Jarrett.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0026v5r
Keith Jarrett, a retirement in tatters, 2021
https://pan-african-music.com/en/keith-jarrett-a-retirement-in-tatters/
Of interest, the woman who produced The Koln Concert
https://variety.com/2025/film/global/vera-brandes-keith-jarrett-berlinale-1236278501/
January 29, 2025 in Commentaries, Music | Permalink | Comments (7)