You can defy the oncoming darkness of winter by walking into the Francine Kelly Gallery, which bursts with pinks and peaches in all shades. As its title suggests, the exhibition “Tickled Pink and Peach,” at the Featherstone Center for the Arts through Nov. 3, is sure to please.
The theme comes from October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, also known as Pink October, and Pantone’s 2024 Color of the Year is Peach Fuzz. Pantone is a company that provides a universal color language for many industries, including fashion, graphic design, product design … and art.
Executive director of Pantone Color Leatrice Eiseman says, “Peach Fuzz … is a velvety gentle peach tone whose all-embracing spirit enriches mind, body, and soul. In seeking a hue that echoes our innate yearning for closeness and connection, we chose a color radiant with warmth and modern elegance.”
“It’s been fun to see what folks have come up with,” says Featherstone’s Executive Director Ann Smith about the submissions by 64 artists.
As with all the gallery community shows, the array of subject matter, media, and styles is impressive.
Straight ahead upon entering is Wendy Nierenberg’s large quilt, “Peach Rose.” She fashions the extreme close-ups of two blossoms from what seems like hundreds of single-colored fabric blocks. Nierenberg contrasts their strict geometry by overlaying the entire piece with finely stitched curlicues that interweave delicacy into the vibrant composition.
Michaele Christian’s vigorous strokes in her oil monotype “Vanishing September” capture the disappearing signs of summer. Whereas various shades of pink dominate the central floral image in this print, a darker orangey peach peeks out from the top of her even more abstract waterscape, “Dream On,” dominated by nuanced blues and grassy greens.
Deborah Black’s stunning “Floral Escapade” and “Garden of Delights” abound with resplendent pinks and peaches. She fashions the works from her own handmade paper, creating a subtle layering that seems to incorporate a bounty of botanicals that have been pressed flat as mementos of special times.
Equally abstract is Rose Gate’s mixed-media “Peonies.” She superimposes square and rectangular close-up photographs of the luscious, pink-shaded blossoms over a sensuous peach and green acrylic background. Gates pulls off parts of the images to reveal the underlying colors and produce an almost antique sensibility.
The daylight streaming through Amy Custis’ two stained-glass panels — “Tulip” and “Hydrangea,” hanging against the windows abutting the gallery doors –– illuminate the colors sinuously delineated by the black lead lines.
With pointillist strokes, Linda Wurm Bryant’s multiple pink and violet tones edge up to the sun-lit path winding through the woods in her acrylic painting “Winter Path to Medeiros Cove.” Bryant defines water and sky in the background with sweeps of color that gather definition and immediacy through a dot-defined tree-filled foreground.
John Holladay’s dazzling acrylic painting, “Fall in Tashmoo,” conveys the energy of the season with colors of almost neon intensity. The resulting scene sings and vibrates on the canvas.
Teresa Kruszewski punctures her slightly hazy black-and-white photo “Flower Tin” with a pristinely crisp single pink flower. Leaning off to the right, it draws our gaze to the upper corner of the picture frame, imbuing the still life with dynamism.
Bob Avakian surprises us with his photograph “Pink House on a Beach.” While the subject matter — a singular building with a surrounding vast sky — is similar to his nighttime black-and-white scenes, suffused in a pink, creating a sense of silence enhanced by the mirror-flat stillness of the water.
Some artists worked on the theme in three dimensions. Jessica Kramer created two lovely limited-edition ceramic sets specifically for the exhibition, including “Peachy Pink Bubble Bowls” molded from vintage glass bubble bowls. Their variegated glaze and alluring texture make us yearn to run our hands over their surfaces.
Frank Creney used only the organic materials of seaweed and salt to create the subtle pink and peach shades shot through with black accents in his elegant saggar-fired vase and globe.
Creatures great and small also appear in the exhibit. In Jennifer Burkin’s mixed-media “Fair Friends,” two pink pigs, oozing with personality, stare straight out at us, surrounded by a patterned decorative border.
Allison Roberts’ endearing “Pinktastic” small acrylic painting of an imaginary fluffy, fine-feathered friend is just the sort to make you smile … to “tickle you pink.” With its head turned just so, the little guy’s big soulful eye beckons us in for a closer look.
The exhibition invites us to see how our Island’s artists have taken a fun theme and run with it.
“It’s a lovely show,” says Smith. “It’s really bright for fall, which I think is wonderful.”
“Tickled Pink and Peach” is on view daily at Featherstone Center for the Arts through Nov. 3, with an artist reception on Sunday, Oct. 20, from 4 pm to 6 pm.
