Many views, one form
Spectrum Gallery presents multi-media show, ‘The Human Form’
When it came to planning the upcoming exhibit at the Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, gallery owner Barbara Nair says it was partly process and partly serendipity.
Over the course of the past year, she reviewed the work of many artists who submitted work to the gallery. “When I saw new work, I thought, ‘Isn’t that interesting?’ and I filed it away, then I let it percolate, and then it really hit me. They are all interested in the human form.”
The exhibit, “The Human Form,” runs through Sunday, March 13, at the gallery and features work from local and regional artists in mediums that include drawing, oil painting, acrylic, watercolor, ink and pastel, photography, fabric, marble sculpture, embellished concrete, terra cotta and bronze. There will be special events scheduled alongside the exhibit, including a live sculpting demonstration by contemporary sculptor and painter Dr. Iván Tirado on Friday, March 4, from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
Organizing shows thematically, rather than around specific artists, has worked well for the young gallery, which has been open for less than two years.
“We’re formulating it as we go. We’re doing a lot of things different from a lot of other places,” Nair says. “Sometimes when galleries start, they are closely tied with a couple of artists, they put them on a roster, and they build that roster.”
While that’s a legitimate and tried-and-true approach, Nair says, “it’s like a marriage.
I didn’t feel like getting married right away was a good idea. I’m more into dating. So that’s what we’re doing.”
Nair finds that it’s proven mutually beneficial for the gallery and the artists.
“If they like the gallery, they will ask about themes coming up, and then they might try to do something they might not otherwise think about doing. It encourages them to take risks. I didn’t plan it that way, it just worked out that way,” she says. “It’s a natural relationship that works for both of us. Before we get married, we have to see how living together goes.”
This approach has allowed Nair to feature local artists and nationally known artists — and established artists are shown alongside emerging artists.
“We give those emerging artists a chance,” she says. “We do give them suggestions about their work. It’s about helping artists develop and I think that’s an important aspect of what a gallery is supposed to do.”
AN ANOMALY In part, Nair says, her approach relies upon equal parts planning and improvisation. She says it’s an approach she finds familiar.
“Oh, I don’t know. I’m an anomaly,” she says. “My background is in theater. I did theater in New York. I have a master’s in theater. I have a bachelor’s in acting. Then I dropped all of that and stayed home with the children.”
Her time home raising her family was incredibly fruitful and creative.
“I grew tremendously. I did all of these creative projects. We moved and were constantly renovating things and helping others renovate. All of that came together as a sort of visual education,” she says. “I didn’t see it that way at the time, but that is what hap- pened.”
As her children grew older, Nair moved to Killingworth with her husband and “I was like oh my ... he’s relaxing and I’m going to kill myself” from boredom, but then she grew to like her new hometown, and she decided to study non-profit arts management at New York University in her spare time. As part of her work for that program, she developed a concept paper for an art center, which eventually turned into Arts Center Killingworth, the art school started 13 years ago that is affiliated with Spectrum Gallery.
Arts Center Killingworth, among other programs, does an arts festival in Madison on the town green every year, and is planning one in Essex this year on Father’s Day weekend.
Nair also has her eye on a 100-year-old red house nearby the gallery in Essex. In the long run, she’d love to make it into a venue for pop-up gallery exhibits, classes, with maybe an apartment for artists in residence.
ON WITH THE SHOW Exhibit attendees will find a fair amount of representational work, which is prevalent in the area in part due to the influence of artists who train at the Lyme Art Academy, Nair says.
“It’s a major art school, and they have a strong focus on figurative and representational work. They have moved into some abstract work, but they teach people how to draw, how to paint, how to represent accurately and creatively.”
And the show also features work from artists that take a more abstract approach.
“There will be a lot of different styles, each artist has their own voice,” she says.
Nair says the show also may help people expand their definition of what is beautiful, when it comes to the human form. She says there will be artwork of models who “show life experience in their bodies. The body does reflect what life has dealt us, particularly for women.”
She says she likes to think the show will prompt viewers to consider beauty “in a wide variety of ways.”
Artists participating in the show include Bruce Adams, Fabian Cortes, Barbara BorckHart, Denise Gaffney Hartz, Ted Genard, Amy K. Lewis, Whitney Prentice, Judith Barbour Osborne, Dan Nichols, Janet Rayner, Donna Holly Colburn, Rosemary McClain, Ruth Sack, Claudine Burns Smith, Dr. Iván Tirado, Ursula Coccomo, Margaret von Kleist Emond, Christine Miller, Sharon Morgio, Wilma Cogliantry, Larry Bilansky, Ann Hodgdon- Cyr, and Kiana Honarmand.