The Martha's Vineyard Times The Martha's Vineyard Times
The Martha's Vineyard Times The Martha's Vineyard Times The Martha's Vineyard Times
The Martha's Vineyard Times The Martha's Vineyard Times

Art

Season opener hits big

Belushi Pisano
The far room also displays the assemblage work of long-time Michigan artist Graceann Warn. On the table beneath her work are also some pieces by stoneware potter Suzanne Crane and a metal sculpture by Adam Wiedmann. Photos by Alfred Rivera

By Tamar Russell - June 7, 2007

If eclectic and variety are what you look for in an art gallery, head over to the Belushi Pisano Gallery in Vineyard Haven for their season opener, a group show with more than a dozen artists. Bronze, glass, lamps, jewelry, painting, photography and mixed media, where does one begin?

"I love these pieces. They are pieces I could live with", says gallery coordinator Kali Wingood. Among the pieces she described were the peaceful mixed media abstracts by Jennifer J.L. Jones.

With so much variety and talent in the show, where in the gallery is a viewer pulled?

Often the connection and the pull are personal. "Almost every evening I head to West Chop for sunset. The West Chop pier is often exploding in color. That explosion is just like this image and exactly what I try to record on film," photographer Ron Hall said of Teresa McCue's "Fire Sky" pastel painting. (This piece was actually my first choice as well, because of its airy simpleness.)

The artist Teresa McCue, said in her bio, "I am enamored with the sights and sounds of nature: the patterns, the rhythms, the textures, and the almost tangible quality of light." Though this quality is difficult to capture in two dimensions, she has managed to do so.

Shawn Meharg
On the wall heading up the back stairs, sitting pretty are three bright oils by Shawn Meharg, depicting "rudimentary" creatures of the sea.

But a real thrill is when an artist leaves the viewer free to make his or her own interpretation. Graceann Warn gives her viewers this opportunity. Her layered collage-like pieces, or "assemblages," made me think of the film, "Italian Job." So much for personal interpretation.

Some other fun pieces were the maritime images by Newporter Michael Eudenbach, who will be part of the two-person show on June 29, taken aboard the classic America's cup contender, Endeavour.

But whether it was due to the warm full-gallery filled air or the approaching thunderstorm, this viewer was in search of simple and clean. Right near the door to the gallery, I found what I needed.

Ann Christensen's oil "Magic Moment" held all the crisp and simple lines that nature doesn't give, but a painter can. Two oil verticals near this piece, both called "Across the Lake" by Sheryl Westergreen also held me, though I wished they had been hung on a larger wall. And the true moment of peace was when Ms. Wingood showed me the stash of small Jennifer J.L. Jones mixed media pieces in the office - enchanting. Where is a couch when you need one?

The second annual group show will continue through Friday, June 14, at the Belushi Pisano Gallery, 18 State Rd., Vineyard Haven. For more information, call 508-696-8988.