Piano Craft gallery group show opening features music and art
The September 5 opening reception of this year's Piano Craft Gallery group show truly was a multi-media event, with various musical acts performing throughout the evening and a diverse collection of paintings, photos, sculpture, woven work and illustrations. About 175 guests nibbled on appetizers, sipped wine, and perused the exhibit to a variety of sounds from Spanish guitar to country-folk from 6:00 until 11:00 PM. Twenty-five past and present Piano Craft Guild (PCG) denizens contributed to the show in the new gallery at the historic artist live/work complex, which was developed 40 years ago as an affordable live-work space for artists but has converted in recent years to mostly market-rate housing for a general population.
Current and former residents of the storied artist community are represented in the show. Residents participating in the group show include current gallery director Richard Inonog and his predecessor, James de Crescentis; illustrator and PCG resident historian Thom Donovan and photographer and jazz saxophonist Arni Cheatham. Inonog's romantic paintings of the feminine form include gently colored female figures against black-and-white, Art Deco inspired backdrops. Donovan's clever visual puns provided a light artistic perspective in contrast to the intensity of de Crescentis's intense abstract paintings and Paul Goodnight's glimpses of African American daily life. Resident Anna Thal Reno lent some historical views of the neighborhood with her late father's renderings of Castle Square and Holy Trinity church, both dating back some 70 years. Cheatham's bird photography comprises portraits of birds at rest and a stunning photo of flight.
PCG alumni who contributed to the exhibit include artist-singer Veronique-Anne Epiter, David E. Mynott II and Zen O'Conor, who lived in the Factory for a year and returned to his native Scotland last fall. Epiter's paintings are colorful and playful with fantasy imagery, while Mynott and O'Conor offer contrasting renderings of local scenes: Mynott depicts the South End and other local spots in delicate tints, while O'Conor offers almost brooding views of Symphony Hall.
The late, local painter Niko (Nicholas Michael Marinos), who had a habit of stopping spontaneously on the sidewalk to capture neighborhood scenes as he walked around the South End, is present in the show with a watercolor and ink rendering of his beloved South End as well as a dreamy watercolor of the island of Kalymnos in Greece. Another departed PCG artist whose vibrant work appears in the show is Theresa-India Young, who lived in the Factory for over 30 years until her death in 2008. Young's vivid, sunny orange-and-yellow weaving and basketry adorn the wall at the entrance to the cozy sitting room that bears her name. In keeping with Young's lively works, the Theresa-India Young room was the stage area for the evening's entertainment. Evan Gadowski of the Four Point Restraint did a solo set, accompanying himself on guitar at the beginning of the evening. "At first it was intimidating playing without the band, but I think it went well. I had fun." Gadowski was a first-time visitor to PCG and was favorably impressed. "I've never been to this place before, but it's very welcoming," he continued.
Jackie Crite, widow of the prominent local artist, Allan Rohan Crite, came to savor the collection and catch up with old friends. Crite revealed that she is planning a national tribute to her late husband's art to premiere in 2017, marking the tenth anniversary of his death. Crite and a team of interns are hard at work organizing and archiving the painter's artistic legacy.
The Piano Craft Guild gallery is located at 793 Tremont Street. The group show is on view Fridays from 6:00-8:00 PM and Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 noon-5:00 PM through September 28. For further information on this and other PCG gallery events, please visit http://pianocraftgallery.org/