Contemporary art dominates downtown Macon galleries on First Friday

Macon interior designer Terry Holland purchased some contemporary paintings in Atlanta and Cobb County that he thought worthy enough to recommend the artists for an exhibition at Macon Arts Alliance.

On First Friday, “Modern Waves” opened in the Gallery on First Street featuring the work of Lauren Betty, Laura Surace and Jeff Surace. All three artists were charmed by the art scene and by the urban revival of downtown living space, which prompted several of the patrons to encourage them to move to Macon, away from the congestion of the big city.

Jeff, a graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design, spent seven years painting Appalachian forest scenes, wielding his palette knife in rich, earthen colors, with graphic results — fall leaves over mountain streams, tumbling through the rocks, are photographic in clarity. He says the mountains “always held deep mystery for me,” where he saw something different each time he explored the forests.

More recent paintings reveal faces perceived in a three dimensional perspective, a technique achieved by layering the paint as one might apply elements to a collage. In “Bear Beyond,” the furry face of the brown beast is embedded in the equally dense background scene.

Laura is inspired by classical artists such as Degas and Cassatt in her drawings, where the ink and color are applied sparingly, but define the subject for the viewer’s interpretation. Her paintings of powerful polo ponies and their riders, swinging their mallets, exuded the confidence needed in this competitive sport; a hesitant nude pauses against a backdrop imbued with the painter’s Southern gothic sensibility.

According to the artist, she is always changing her style because of an intense curiosity in her Southern history, in its folklore and, because of the tales she has heard passed down from one generation to another.

The abstract canvases of Lauren Betty have a tactile quality, achieved with multiple layers of paint in intricate relief, ranging from serene monochromatic to vividly colored images. Originally from the hills of North Carolina, but transplanted to the large urban environment of Atlanta, the transition is apparent in her attempts to reconnect to her pastoral roots in her interpretive textures and colors of urban skylines.

These three artists, whose work will be in the gallery through May 28, would welcome the relative tranquility of Macon, which, in turn, would welcome them.

“Skin Deep” opens at Travis Jean

The “Skin Deep” series of nude paintings by Priscilla Esser is the latest from this prolific artist who first charmed her admirers with bucolic scenes of cows, cocky roosters and beaches. At her opening in the Travis Jean Gallery on First Friday, several of the exceptional paintings had sold and interest was brisk.

Esser’s style reflects the nudes by Picasso, without the distorted faces, and those by Modigliani, but with less defined features. Esser’s nudes, sensuous, full-figured and shapely, are not static, but moving with self-assurance, in linear waves of color. Bill Reynolds pointed out two canvases, one the reverse view of the other, a feat for any artist, but perfectly executed by Esser — unfortunately, one had been sold without its reverse partner!

With the outstanding success of this exhibit, which will be in the gallery through May, and with the proficiency with which she rendered the female form, one can only guess what next will grab Esser’s curiosity at the easel.

Capturing the blues on camera

It has been said that the blues is not just a music genre, but a state of mind and a way of life — a hard scrabble way of life at that. “Hellhounds on Their Trails,” a photography exhibit at Gallery West, features the work of Adam Smith and Kirk West, following the blues makers from the deltas of Mississippi and Louisiana to the south side of Chicago.

Smith, a Macon native, collaborated on the collection by the same name, with West, whose Allman Brothers biographical series of photographs was the subject of “Les Brers.”

Blues singers were found on a primitive stage in the Po’ Monkey Lounge, in Merigold, Mississippi, where the sign out front warns “No Beer in Here — Alcohol Okay.” Others were discovered singing with abandon on front porches, in churches and wherever the spirit hit them.

Smith, who grew up immersed in Macon’s iconic music, has exhibited his photography in other galleries in Georgia and is marketing his photography on his website, AdamSmithPhotography.com. He has photographed the band, the Pollies, from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, for an upcoming album.

Ironically, some of the guests viewing Smith’s photographs in the gallery on First Friday did not realize that the two unassuming guys playing guitar in the corner were Rob Roy Walker and Mike Causey from the band Stillwater.

This story was originally published May 14, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Contemporary art dominates downtown Macon galleries on First Friday."