Abstract interpretations were nice ways to recover from storm

Hurricane Irma not only damaged our homes and littered the streets, it shuttered many businesses and isolated entire neighborhoods. On Sept. 15, the Middle Georgia Art Association’s September exhibition was canceled because Ingleside Avenue, where MGAA’s gallery is located, looked like the main street of a ghost town – electrical power was out in the Ingleside corridor from Riverside Drive to Forest Hill Road.

However, the show did go on, with the opening reception for “Abstract” moved to last Friday, Sept. 22. The list of participating painters, sculptors and photographers included names with which art patrons are familiar and a few newcomers to the arts scene in Macon. According to Theresa Trail, gallery manager, the reception was very well attended by art lovers, possibly suffering from cabin fever after a week of unplanned confinement.

The juried show features abstract interpretations by artists who have pushed their talents to explore the indefinite territory of what must be translated by the viewer. We look forward to seeing photographer Glen Grossman’s experiments with the camera – although a favorite, shot in Juliette, “Reflections of a Grist Mill,” is not part of the monthly exhibit, Grossman’s “Swarm” earned him an honorable mention at the opening.

“Dancing With the Stars,” by Jean Brennan, the third place winner, is as lively and fluid as the dancers themselves on the popular television program of the same name. John Myers, exhibits chair and vice-president of the MGAA board, placed second with “Anna Karenina,” an appropriate title for a subject that inspired Myers’ confetti of colors and, as seductive as the character for which the painting was named.

Barbara Barry Nishanian, wife of sculptor and painter Peter Nishanian, whose contemporary wood and metal creations were included in the exhibit, won the blue ribbon for “Collision,” a bold geometric design for which her muse could have been her husband and his two and three dimensional sculptures.

The second honorable mention, Martha Clayton Lee’s “Divided,” is a small, provocative statement that can be interpreted in several ways, hence defining what abstract painting is all about. The changes in the configuration of the display space at the MGAA gallery are impressive, with a refreshing urbane ambience – see the show until Oct. 20.

SOCIAL COMMENTARY IN CONCERT

Last Sunday, the Music and the Arts program at Vineville United Methodist Church presented the Collaborative Arts Ensemble, the first performance of the 2017-2018 season. The four musicians’ shared interest in music as a vehicle for communicating concerns and solutions for societal inequities brings them together in concert. Temporarily replacing two of the members of the group, who are on leave, were a violinist and an actor, the latter of whom, Victoria Pollack, acted as narrator after each musical selection and was one of the vocalists for several compositions. Violinist Jocelyn Zhu was the second guest artist for the performance. Pianist Matthew Maimone, and baritone and sometimes pianist Thomas West rounded out the ensemble.

Titled “Letters of the American South,” the program featured familiar folk hymns, popular music and spirituals which ranged in genre from traditional tunes to obscure contemporary music and lyrics by lesser known composers. After each selection, Pollack read a letter from a Southern writer or from an author known for literary connections to the South. Among the writers whose letters she read were John S. Mosby, James Baldwin, Harper Lee, Maya Angelou, Eudora Welty and Thomas A. Dorsey (no relation to the Tommy Dorsey of big band fame).

The concert opened with Richard Pearson Thomas’ “Shenandoah,” featuring Zhu on violin and Maimone on piano for a rendition of the popular melody. Stephen Foster’s “Beautiful Dreamer” and “Hard Times Come Again No More” were crowd favorites with the latter showcasing the talent of all four musicians during the finale.

West, the baritone, is a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, with family ties to Macon and well known in music circles for his initiatives to introduce and to foster a love for music on the high school level. His rich baritone was matched by his ease on the piano when he sang and played Hoagy Carmichael’s “Georgia on My Mind.” There are seven more events of this caliber in the Music and the Arts program this season.

This story was originally published September 26, 2017 at 1:20 PM with the headline "Abstract interpretations were nice ways to recover from storm."