past show

This is the season of shapeshifting, when humans transform themselves physically and celebrate traits ordinarily buried deep within the psyche.  To help decipher these often murky manifestations, 13FOREST Gallery presents Keinberger & Luiggi: Field Guides, an illustrative exhibition of new and recent work by Boston artists Joe Keinberger and Mark Luiggi.

Running from October 18 to November 12, the show offers a two-man catalogue of myths, personifications and wordplay that express both the dark and lighthearted sides of being a citizen of the modern world.

October 18, Tues - Opening
October 20, Third Thurs, 7-9 pm - Opening Reception
October 28, Fri, 6-9 pm - Day of the Dead Fiesta in Capitol Square - festive eats at 13FOREST courtesy of Zócalo

Joe Keinberger has always been drawn to strange and imaginative creatures as an extension of his love of folklore and nature.  Through his pencil drawings, he portrays contemporary human alienation and our often futile efforts to attain perfection.  Keinberger does this, however, with a goal of imbuing his subjects with a purity that makes their mysterious appearances compelling and their actions innocent rather than sinister or calculating.  In his drawing Such Beautiful Stars…, a thin woman rides on the back of a figure that is half human and half tree-animal.  Far from an abduction scene, it is one of mindfulness, of living with vision and primitive intuition.  On the wedding of human figures with natural forms, Keinberger states: "There is an appreciation and an awe of Nature that influences my work.  Tree branches become antlers, root vegetables walk and talk, and the animal world is king."


Mark Luiggi strikes an uneasy balance between innocence and sophistication. Combining pen and ink with watercolor and cut paper, Luiggi creates worlds that are well ordered and believable but also implausible. With a playful eye, he catches viewers off guard as he lays bare human foibles and delusions and makes references to bygone eras when, in retrospect, everything seemed manageable if not shatterproof. In A Fine Education Luiggi presents an elaborate mating ritual of elegant men and women sauntering across a park, pulling metaphorical wagons jammed with books that represent our vain attempts to reveal only what we believe will attract potential suitors. Further exposing the quirks of the human condition, the characters in Luiggi's Birdwatchers series are humorous on one level but they also beg the question, are animals half as interested in studying us as we are them?