Harvard Art Museums An untitled work by Edna Andrade is part of exhibition opening Saturday at the Harvard Art Museums in Cambridge.
“Edna Andrade: Imagination Is Never Static” opens at Harvard Art Museums on Saturday from pieces the artist’s estate gifted recently to the museum.
Andrade is an icon in the op art movement, which focused on manipulating geometric patterns to create optical illusions and play with human perception.
The exhibition highlights Andrade’s process through the lens of drawing, which was core to her practice and thinking. Andrade was part of “Form Forum,” a salon-style group in Philadelphia that met to discuss mathematics, architecture, design, art and philosophy.
That explains why every piece feels like its own experiment, from the subtle net of rectangles in “Pale Star” to the vibrant gradients that form block by block in “Study Finale.”
Other highlights include an untitled self-portrait and a variety of sketches and teaching notes from Andrade’s days at the now-defunct University of the Arts in Philadelphia. By including these sketches, notes and studies, the show immerses you in the very sense of experimentation that Andrade was known for.
Blue Triangle Gallery Some of the 243 works returned by artists for “The Triangle Show” in Somerville’s Union Square.
Blue Triangle Gallery “The Motherchip,” a love letter to the Dorito by Krista Perry, is part of “The Triangle Show.”
In a happy coincidence, the Blue Triangle Gallery’s inaugural Somerville show feels aligned with Andrade’s lively geometric experiments. In the first exhibit at a new Union Square location, “The Triangle Show” opened July 25 to great fanfare.
The exhibit’s schtick is straightforward: It is, indeed, chock full of triangles. But that simple premise called for lots of collaboration. Matt DeBeul, one of the space’s three owners, made hundreds of custom wood triangle panels for the show and distributed them to artists throughout New England. Along with co-owners Helen Popinchalk and Kate DeBeul, they invited 80 artists to attend and got 243 works of art for the show, by some miracle installing every one of them. There’s a real range of styles on view, from “The Motherchip,” a love letter to the Dorito, to a sculptural bison with antlers that go well beyond its original canvas.
Installing 243 triangles in the gallery must have required a careful game of wall Tetris, but the results are worth it. The show is an exciting sign of more artist-run opportunities to come in a square that’s felt increasingly corporate.
“Edna Andrade: Imagination Is Never Static” through Jan. 4 at the Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., near Harvard Square, Cambridge . Free.
“The Triangle Show” through Sept. 26 at the Blue Triangle Gallery, 230 Somerville Ave. Floor 2, Union Square, Somerville. Free. Blue Triangle is open Fridays 4 to 8 p.m. and by appointment via email: info@bluetrianglegallery.com. Works are priced according to size ($100 for small, $250 for medium and $500 for large.)
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