Martha's Vineyard Times
May 8, 2008
Louisa Gould Gallery opens
By
Tamar Russell
After
months of restoration, the Louisa Gould Gallery on Main Street in
Vineyard Haven is finally up and running. The season opener Saturday
evening was filled with gallery goers for a busy 5 pm start in what
gallery owner Louisa Gould is calling a “new” gallery. Michael Hayden
set the mood with his guitar and chef Liberty Russell created the tasty
hors d’oeuvres that were served. Everyone seemed happy to have this
early-season gallery opening with its impressive display of art. “We
ran out of wine by 7 pm and were still making sales after the show was
over,” Ms. Gould said.
“We
were only supposed to be closed for two months but were forced to be
closed for four months,” Ms. Gould said, explaining that having moved
in and out of buildings six times in the past year, then painting and
repainting the gallery, she could easily transition into the moving
business.
Displayed in the bright and spacious room, the current
show is a mix of new art and familiar gallery pieces including work by
Gray and Howard Park, Kate Huntington, Stephen Hart, Janet Messineo,
and Louisa Gould. And the reviewer’s personal favorite by Frauke Klatt,
on the gallery’s back wall. Titled “Racing Down the Wind,” it is
acrylic and sand in brilliant colors with intense amounts of texture.
The
new work featured was created by artists Caryn King, Donna Macomber
Blackburn, Pia Post, Ovid Ward, Maya Farber, Louisa Gould, Carolyn
Warren, Leslie S. Smith, James Masek, and Washington Ledesma. A number
of these artists will return for solo shows later in the season.
A
striking first impression is a seascape by Gray Park in the gallery
window, “State Beach.” Also notable was the attention paid to the
presentation of artwork that added to the impact. Leslie S. Smith has
used wonderful gold frames on her new pastels, as has Donna Blackburn
on her oil seascape paintings on masonite and on a striking still life.
Ms.
Blackburn’s pieces are Island-inspired. A New Bedford native, she has
been on the Island for about 37 years. When asked when she started
painting, she replied, “Since before I could write my name.” But she
said that it was in her junior high school days she really got involved
in art.
Ms. Gould presented two rows of her brilliantly colored
digitally painted flowers. In her press release for the show, she
offers three ways to approach these flowers: “The first is simply a
flower in a particular color on a similar-colored, patterned
background; the next level is color therapy; and the third level can
represent the colors of the seven chakras.” She started to create this
series in late March after studying a daffodil that she received at
Easter. “Watching people react to this study in flowers is very
refreshing,” she said, and she laughed about the process of painting
each flower and expressing what the colors can mean to different
people.
The
art covers a broad range, designed to have universal appeal. James
Masek, an Island artist, displays a sculpture called Four Dancers,
captured in graceful motion. The three sunny Noah’s Ark themed folk art
paintings by Washington Ledesma are a pleasure to view, especially on
such a grey day as last Saturday. Also brightening the gallery are Maya
Farber’s four still life paintings that would cheer up any dining room.
For the fishing enthusiasts there is no shortage of
sea/boat/fishing images: Chris Pendergast’s buoys; Luther K. Hall’s
prints and oils of fishermen; and Brian Kirkpatrick’s hooks.
An
eclectic touch to the show was the presence of a very earthy fabric
piece by long-time Island artist Pia Post. Ms. Post talked in animated
detail about the bag she created out of Japanese worm cocoon silk. The
bag was complete with a real bug, transformed into a jewel, an antique
glass egg, and Austrian crystals. “It is reminiscent of a bird’s nest,”
she explained. The show will be up until May 22, and hopefully we will
see more of this work in the summer.
The Louisa Gould Gallery is located at 54 Main Street in Vineyard Haven. For more information, call 508-693-7373 or visit
louisagould.com.
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