Walk through The Granary Gallery courtyard on any sunny day and find antique wrought iron tables and chairs, flowers growing everywhere, and art lining the rustic wooden outdoor walls. Most days you'll share this scene with just a few others, but this Sunday, June 28, the start of the 2009 season's artists' receptions, there could be close to 600 people flowing inside and out the gallery. Art lovers of all ages and preferences will gather to have a glass of wine, meet friends, talk with artists, and view the work of featured artists and from the gallery's extensive permanent collection. Gallery associate Robin Nagle refers to the day as the "grand introduction to summer opening," adding, "For the staff, it's like Christmas when we bring the new art out and arrange it."
Jack Goldsmith's painting of oysters captures a feeling of summer. Photos courtesy Granary Gallery
"This event is truly a kickoff to summer," says Chris Morse, owner of Granary Gallery and The Field Gallery in West Tisbury, and North Water Gallery in Edgartown. This is Mr. Morse's 22nd year at The Granary Gallery, built as an actual granary for sheep in the 1940s. It is his 10th year at The Field Gallery and his fourth year at North Water Gallery.
"The opening is a social event where people gather to see neighbors and enjoy cocktails," Mr. Morse says, "but it's also an opportunity for the staff to greet art lovers who are not patrons, but old friends, and bring out the work an artist has spent a year preparing."
"Chicken a la King," oil on board, is an example of Barry Rockwell's playful approach to traditional styles.
The atmosphere is inviting, and the art captivating and invitingly arranged. Mr. Morse emphasizes that the receptions are casual - families and dogs welcome. For children there is even a scavenger hunt, or "Art Find."
Then there is the variety of art - impressive, eclectic, and arresting.
Sunday's opening features David Fokos's dramatic and minimalist photography, Jack Goldsmith's paintings of anonymous figures of children and people on the beach and other summer subjects, Barry Rockwell's whimsical folk paintings, and themed and functional designs from McAdoo Rugs.
Mr. Fokos will attend the event to meet people and answer questions. A San Diego, California resident, his photography hangs in Tokyo, Zurich, and galleries throughout the States. His parents live in Chilmark, and he says the Island feels like home. "There is a peaceful, rejuvenating natural beauty here that remains largely unspoiled," he says. "It is the inner peace and calm I experience here that I have tried to express through my work."
A large print of his now sold-out "Black Gate" image taken in West Chop was originally purchased for $3,000. In March of this year it sold for $28,000.
"East Meets West," by photographer David Fokos, who tries to distill images to their basic elements. Photo courtesy Granary Gallery
The Granary Gallery has been showing Mr. Fokos's work for 10 years. He has been photographing Martha's Vineyard for 32 years, but he says it took him 15 years to create the kind of image he was trying to produce. He said he feels a relationship with the landscape so deeply that half his entire portfolio is devoted to images of the Vineyard. He tries to capture and evoke the emotion he feels from experiencing the beauty the Island has to offer through the influence of Japanese aesthetics, and by "paring an image down, distilling it to its basic elements, its essence."
Artists' reception, Sunday, June 28, 5-7 pm, Granary Gallery, West Tisbury. David Fokos, Barry Rockwell, Jack Goldsmith, and McAdoo Rugs. 508-693-0455; granarygallery.com.
Kerri Buckley is a freelance writer living in West Tisbury.
