Plenty of art exhibits worth the ferry ride across Midcoast Maine | Column
Three Maine island galleries and a Rockland exhibition offer visitors a rich mix of color, mystery, and unexpected juxtapositions this summer, with shows that range from luminous landscapes to dreamlike paintings of woods and seas.
At Caldbeck Gallery in Rockland, two exhibitions are on view through Aug. 30 at 12 Elm St. Kayla Mohammadi's "Sun Pocket" showcases works the artist describes as an exploration of what lies beyond color alone. "I hope the viewer gets drawn to the work through color but then lingers to see what else is there," Mohammadi said in her artist statement. Pieces such as "French Pot," a still life of a vessel filled with flora, sit within an oval space surrounded by floating blossoms and enigmatic patterns of chevrons, polka dots, and stripes, creating a world that feels both familiar and strange. Other paintings, including "Repetition and Space," divide a single still life into a grid, with each tile viewing the subject from a different angle to create a multidimensional experience.
Sharing the gallery is Jarid del Deo's "Something Out There," a series of landscapes that aim for spiritual rather than visual accuracy. "I am more comfortable exchanging what I consider visual accuracy for something that is more spiritually expressive," del Deo said in his statement. The standout piece, "Radiant Intervals," depicts a seaside landscape painted in bright, surreal colors, with a mottled red sea and a black sun or moon on the horizon whose reflected light spreads across the water in an amoeba-like or angelic shape. In "Pink Mountain," a rectangular opening in the clouds suggests something imminent and unsettling, while the title painting "Something Out There" features oddly shaped clouds and a dark celestial body casting a long streak across the water, recalling the work of Maine artist Marsden Hartley. The exhibition is open through Aug. 30. The gallery can be reached at 207-594-5935.
A ferry ride away on Vinalhaven, New Era Gallery at 60 Main St. is hosting "Kenneth Banks & William Trevaskis" through Aug. 31. The exhibition centers on a collaborative photography project in which Banks, a California photographer, and Trevaskis, based on Maine's Fox Islands, shoot over each other's exposed film without seeing what the other has captured. Banks began the process after purchasing a cache of Fuji film that already contained images, and the resulting overlays blend, obscure, and reimagine each other's work in unexpected ways. "Crossing 1" merges a man in a rowboat with submerged industrial buildings, while "Mystery Woman" superimposes a laughing woman over a set of closed double doors, inviting viewers to imagine the story behind the image.
Also on view at New Era are black-and-white photographs by Ron Rosenstock, whose serene images of Mouse Island and Rocklines on Lane's Island evoke Luminist paintings, and Michael Seif's swimming nudes, presented under layers of encaustic wax for an effect that feels simultaneously contemporary and antique.
On North Haven, Hopkins Wharf Gallery and the nearby Ice House offer a rotating schedule of weekly exhibitions through the summer, with the former curated by owners David Hopkins and artist David Wilson and the latter run by guest curators. Wilson's own paintings, woodland scenes alive with insects, birds, snakes, winged sprites, and trees that resemble hands with eyes in their palms, draw on classical mythology, William Blake, Caspar David Friedrich, and the surrealism of Max Ernst. Recent shows included sunlit Maine landscapes by Colin Page and botanical gouaches by Lynn Krauss. The Ice House has featured "Tidal," a four-artist exhibition of work inspired by time spent on and in Maine waters, including Richard Keen's paintings of rockweed, Siem Van Der Ven's mixed-media works created with pressed detritus, Ben Potter's dark water ceramics, and JT Gibson's bronze and aluminum wall reliefs.
Also on North Haven, Fox Island Gallery at 7 Iron Point Road offers more traditional Maine subject matter, including harbor scenes and island landscapes. Artist Susan A. Cooney works in graphite, producing detailed grayscale renderings of the surrounding scenery.
The Caldbeck exhibitions run through Aug. 30, with more information available at caldbeck.com. New Era Gallery can be reached at 207-863-9351 or neweragallery.com. Hopkins Wharf and the Ice House are at 7 Hopkins Wharf and can be reached at 207-867-4444 or hopkinswharfgallery.com. Fox Island Gallery is at 7 Iron Point Road, 207-518-8423.
