“Call & Response” Artist Talk: Max Van Pelt & Rachel Loischild

Last in our series of “Call & Response” conversations with Senior Curator Francine Weiss and exhibiting artists, join us for this final glimpse into the Museum’s permanent collection through the fresh eyes of regional artists working in an array of media, and learn more about their selections and evocative responses.

Joining us for this talk are artists Max Van Pelt and Rachel Loischild, whose fresh responses to the quiet and careful renderings of James Baker and Francis Adams Comstock feature bursts of rich, flickering, glorious color and pattern. Van Pelt’s contemporary response is a vibrant and complex system of abstract planes and surfaces. Loischild’s mysterious portrait of a fish is mesmerizing and haunting. Join us for the last in our very special series of artist talks.

Talk will be delivered Live on Zoom, and link will be sent directly to registrants.

Rachel Loischild

Rachel Loischild is a Boston-based artist and photographer as well as a Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellow in Photography. She holds her MFA in photography from Pratt Institute and her BA in studio art from Clark University. Her work has been widely shown nationally at galleries and museums, and internationally at the Jounju Photo Festival in Korea, she was also recognized by the Inge Morath Foundation in IM magazine for her photo essay Estate Sales and in Landscape Stories magazine of Italy for her project Drive-in. Her work is held in numerous collections including the Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library and the Canadian based Magenta Foundation for Photography. Additionally, Loischild is a recent recipient of multiple City of Boston Arts Opportunity grants. Rachel teaches photography and is the Assistant Professor of Visual Arts at Pine Manor College.  

Max Van Pelt

Max Van Pelt (b. 1989, Boulder, Colorado) is a painter, sculptor, and installation artist based in Providence, RI. Max graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College in 2011, where his work in sculpture and drawing was awarded the Jonathan B. Rintels Prize for the outstanding undergraduate thesis in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Prior to discovering his artistic intentions, Max was an archer — a thirteen-time national champion and athlete on the United States World Team. His current interests are deeply rooted in our built environment, the human condition, and regularly exploring the outdoors as an experienced whitewater kayaker, oarsman, and avid mountain bicyclist. His work is represented by Cade Tompkins Projects and has been featured in Art in America’s The Lookout, Big Red & Shiny, and on National Public Radio.