Jamaica Plain Artists Association Exhibits at State House

The office of State Representative of the 15th Suffolk/Norfolk District, including Jamaica Plain, is the site of a new art exhibition by the Jamaica Plain Artists Association.  Entitled “From Our House to Your House,” it features the art of 26 member artists. 

As chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Health, Sánchez noted that the work would be seen by visitors to his busy office from “the district, around the state, and the world.”  Sánchez also said that he is excited about JP’s blossoming art scene, which has seen .  “I am impressed by their creativity and entrepreneurial spirit.”

“From Our House to Your House” was curated by Ted Cormier, a JPAA member for ten years.  The exhibit showcases JPAA's talent working in a variety of styles and media including painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture.

The diverse collection ranges from the colorfully explosive graffiti of Rob Larsen’s "Teenage FBI" to the monochrome abstraction of Casey Williams’ “Untitled” painting.  Paula Lazar’s luminous landscape “Dunes” is one example of more realistically painted works, and perfectly captures an impressionistic summer moment on the Cape.  Lisa Domenicucci’s snowy landscape "Winter Calm" records another time of year.   Painter Karen Ann Victoria O'Brien displayed a stunning still life called "Rudbeckia in White Vase."  The bursting yellow bouquet, stated the artist, was grown in her garden.

Cynthia Kollios’ pastel colored mixed media work "Mappng the Emerald Necklace, Jamaica Pond" is one of the many works exploring Jamaica Plain’s lush and park-rich landscape. Curator Cormier’s deftly-painted "Summer Day in the Pines" is another.  Mardi Reed contributed an expressionist woodcut entitled "Poplar Path Spring," which depicts one of the paths at the .  (Reed will have a solo exhibition at the JP B&B Taylor House during the months of June and July.)

Painter Rick Legge and Nancy Marks explore more urban themes.  In “Avenue of the Arts I” Legge paints pedestrians and their shadows from a birds-eye view.  Marks, whose work was recently shown as part of the show, a companion exhibition to the community theatre’s production of RENT, creates painterly and abstracted vistas of gritty urban architecture.

In "Tripping the Light Fandango," Lars Knakkergaard used a slow exposure to capture the serpentine movement of traffic near his JP home.  Fellow photographer Gunars Viksnins recorded one of the stone bridges spanning the Muddy River in his work "Eye of the Beholder."  The silver gelatin photograph, he stated, was "not the result of snapping a button."  The work was created while his wife faced a serious illness at one of the nearby hospitals.  The title was inspired by a Rilke poem called the “Archaic Torso of Apollo,” which describes a statue beholding its onlooker.  “When you understand and appreciate art, it looks back at you,” he said.

Silvina Mizrahi's  "Soul's Breeze" is the sole sculpture in the show.  Mizarahi explained that the work, one of her Imperial Figures series, is partially constructed from a junked wheel that came from a bicycle store.  The other elements of the bronze work were first cast in wax or plaster including the virtuoso rendering of the tiny textured holes in a piece of fabric.

During the show’s packed opening, Democrats and Republicans partied together, and bilaterally admired the show.  At the reception’s conclusion, Sánchez seemed surprised when his legislative aides presented him with a cake and an empty frame for his Harvard diploma, which he will receive in just two weeks time.  On receiving his Masters in Public Administration, the likeable legislator said that it’s only taken him “many years, five schools, and two states” to finally earn his Ivy League degree.

 A self-described art lover, Sánchez stated that he has been showing art created by the people of his district for the past year and a half.  Sánchez explained that he adopted the idea from his State House colleague Jay Kaufman of the 15th Middlesex District.

“I am pleased to fill this place with great work and happy to have the people of my district here, " Sánchez said.

 “From Our House to Your House” will be on exhibit until July 8 at State Representative Jeffrey Sánchez’ office, Room 130, at the .