2 minute read
On Exhibit
Exhibit
BY KELLY MACCONOMY
Del Ray Artisans Reflect on 2020’s Pandemic Challenges
RETREAT, ALIENATION, INSECURITY—AND HOPE—IN DRA’S FIRST 2021 EXHIBITS
BY KELLY MACCONOMY
The year we just left behind taxed every facet of life, but January brings new hope, the promise of opportunity, and the prospect of better days ahead. Del Ray Artisans’ first three exhibits of the new year explore the breadth of challenges faced throughout the 2020 pandemic siege: reflection and introspection within “The Hidden World”(January); retreat, alienation, and desolation in “After Edward Hopper: Themes of Solitude and Isolation” (February); “Beach Shelter” by Pamela Day. homelessness and shelter insecurity in our community via “Give Me Shelter” (March).
The Hidden World is an urbane demonstration of both artistic existentialism and Nancy Galib and Nicole Mahoney’s studious curation. This all-media exhibit ranges from the real and the imagined to abstract executions, both macro and microscopic. Photography examines perspectives of the natural world from flora and rock to the vast expanse of space. Abstract sculpture and canvases are both evocative and pro-
vocative, irresistibly drawing the viewer into a hidden world of movement, depth, shadow, and color. Curators Galib and Mahoney have installed an elegant exhibit. Without overloading the walls with thematic works, the minimalistic installation lends itself to a calm, contemplative environment. One wall is dedicated to a single canvas reminiscent of a Mark Rothko abstraction that is Photo: Ada Oppengeim frequently exhibited “The Hidden World” Curator Choice Award winsolo in museums. At ner “Ebbs and Flows of Exploration” mixed me- the Philips Collecdia by Ada Oppengeim tion in Washington, there is a Rothko Room. The Curator’s Choice Award went to Ada Oppengeim’s “Ebbs and Flows of Exploration,” a mixed media work of watercolor, gouache, color pencils, and ink in a translucent interplay of color and shape. Reminiscent of Braque, Dali, and Picasso, it’s commanding unto its own stylized sense of contrast and movement. Best in Show went to Mary Elizabeth Gosselnick’s “Bubble Up,” a tex-
Photo: Pamela Day
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tural panoply of pink glorify-
Photo: Gordon Frank “Homage Bar” digital art by Gordon Frank, inspired by Hopper’s “Nighthawks” and life in the time of a ravaging pandemic.
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QUOTABLES
There is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it. —Amanda Gorman, youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history
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