SUMMERTIME SALON - 2016
JUNE 29 –SEPTEMBER 11, 2016
The Robin Rice Gallery is pleased to present the annual Summertime Salon, a photographic exhibition featuring the works of the gallery artists as well as a few newcomers. This year's opening reception will be held on Wednesday, June 29, from 5:30 to 8:30 pm. The show will run through September 11, 2016.
In the hazy, warm New York summer, little is more refreshing than reclining on the beach in the mist of the icy ocean waves or enjoying a family trip to the country house. Each summer, Rice curates her favorite show, the Summertime Salon, which reminds us of this exact seasonal sentiment. The two, long walls of the gallery become mosaicked, top to bottom, side to side, in photographs that evoke all the preeminent feelings and memories of summer. Each year, the Summertime Salon matures and Rice's annual masterpiece comes into fruition. This year is no exception. The show is a haven of what the Robin Rice Gallery stands for, a community of art and experience.
As the largest annual exhibition, the Summertime Salon is carefully pieced together, the results are staggering. The works of the 53 gallery artists come together communally, reinforcing the overall sense of unity that the show creates as a whole. In knowing the photographs so fluently, Rice strategically places them together in a way that will enhance the individual stories contained in each. Details from one image flow from into the next, elevating every photograph in a distinctly unique way.
This year's invitational image, Surf Club by Silvia Lareo-Vasquez, features a woman in a vintage sun hat reclining in the pool with a drink. The black and white image evokes an extreme sense of nostalgia in its cinematic portraiture and supple texture. Though the figure of the woman is tauntingly beautiful, the drink is the darkest tone, nearing black, and is centered in the frame. With this, we are reminded of the refreshing notes of summer and the utter serenity of taking the day off to relax.
The show's imagery is evocative of all eras of summer, thus any viewer can relate or connect to one of the images. As Rice likes to say, "There's something for everyone." One image by Benjamin Heller details a strong owl flying past the camera, with a blurry, forested background. This photograph hints at the adventurous, nature-filled summer; one filled with hiking and treasure hunts. Another image by Nenad Samuilo Amodaj details a thin black woman in a round, textured skirt, grasping onto a white orb-like shape covering her head. This image evokes the sense of wanderlust that summer so often indulges and plays well into the selection of more obvious summer scenes that Rice has incorporated as well.
Participating Artists:
Ted Adams, Thomas Alleman, Dorothee Brand, Todd Burris, Roger Camp, Lynda Churilla, Lance W Clayton, Paul Dagys, John Dolan, Richie Fahey, Chris Fan, Stewart Ferebee, Mindaugas Gabrenas, Barbara Gentile, Isabella Ginanneschi, Gladys, Victoria Goldman, Ron Hamad, Kristen Hatgi, Patricia Heal, Benjamin Heller, Melissa Incampo, H. Nazan Isik, Pete Kelly, Haik Kocharian, Tanya Malott, Everett McCourt, Patricia McDonough, Micheal McLaughlin, Steve Miller, RJ Muna, Rosanne Olson, Brian Pearson, Bill Phelps, Jose Picayo, Lauren Pisano, Amy Postle, Kim Reierson, Robin Rice, Kevin Ryan, Laurence Salzmann, Nenad Samuilo Amodaj, David Saxe, Gesi Schilling, Zack Seckler, Keith Sharp, Mark Sink, Gordon Stettinius, Kathryn Szoka, Silvia Lareo-Vasquez, Tina West, Harriet Zucker