The Robin Rice Gallery announces the annual group show of photographs by gallery artists entitled SUMMERTIME Salon 2011. The opening reception will be held on Wednesday June 29 from 5:30 to 8:30 pm. The show runs through September 11, 2011.
This year’s annual celebration of summer, at once mod... Read more
The Robin Rice Gallery announces the annual group show of photographs by gallery artists entitled SUMMERTIME Salon 2011. The opening reception will be held on Wednesday June 29 from 5:30 to 8:30 pm. The show runs through September 11, 2011.
This year’s annual celebration of summer, at once modern and sentimental, playful and reflective, is an expression of the aesthetic cultivated by the gallery over the last 21 years. While most of the 100 plus pieces are chosen from the gallery’s repertoire of solo shows it also is the one time to invite newcomers, presenting the opportunity Rice to showcase her vision:
“Putting the show together is like arranging a beautiful complicated puzzle that takes days to install. Visitors always linger longer than any other show and I never want to take it down.”
The invitational image, Rio, 2002 by Micheal McLaughlin instantly sets the mood. A unique perspective from above a stretch of white sandy beach speckled with multi-colored umbrellas in the foreground, it then ebbs from the aqua surf to a wide expanse of brilliant blue ocean. When viewed from afar it’s reminiscent of Mark Rothko with its horizontal color blocks. Upon closer inspection, the details are filled with the promise of summer…from sandcastles and flirtations on the beach to laughter left in the wake of a tiny speedboat. It’s the perfect blend of contemporary and timeless.
From that portrait you gain entrée into a world of evocative images that invite you to while away the afternoon. Hung in the salon style from floor to ceiling, it immerses you in a visual picnic with its varied images, styles, shapes and sizes. Sit back, relax and take in the highly curated assemblage of figurative portraits and pastoral landscapes juxtaposed with conceptual compositions and surrealistic tableaus. With its myriad display of color, black and white and sepia prints Rice creates a wonderful collage, offering something for everyone.
The design, selection and placement of the photographs are both a labor of love and work of art. Rice’s installation design is carefully orchestrated so that the individual pieces work off each other, moving the eye around from one photograph to another to tell a cohesive story. It follows no rules, yet comes together to create a unified and almost magical feeling in the space – much like summertime itself.
