Arts & Leisure
"Valentine Specials" at Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery
By Rose Safran
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - On a frigid day recently, I tackled somewhat icy sidewalks on State Street in Portsmouth and wandered into the Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery, home to the New Hampshire Art Association (NHAA).There, to the left of its entrance, mounted on a wall, were what might be described commercially as "Valentine Specials" or perhaps more accurately as "Valentine Uniques," which tends to convey what they truly are. One of my favorite ceramic artists, creator of large colorful sculpted "orbs" that grace many area homes today; creator, too, of timely political messages worked into these orbs and other sculpted pieces, namely, Durham's Jane Kaufmann, has put her ever-agile mind and capable strong hands to work to create innumerable original heart-shaped wall plaques.
These individual hand-painted, signed clay objects flaunt enough imaginative color combinations and images to satisfy the design inclinations of even the most fastidious interior decorator; there seems to be something for all tastes - modernist, traditional, avant-garde - whatever that means in these days of deliberate outrageousness and insane excess - as well as animal-lover and garden buff. Kaufmann, a gardener, loves to portray florals.
Some of the hearts mounted on the wall have hearts-within-a-heart. These ceramics join other ideas for that special day, also original - although Kaufmann's were the ones, clearly recognizable by her hand, that caught my eye immediately - such a variety, so many color combines, a host of sizes, some so small that they could work into interesting parcel wrapping, fit in a small box, or even a padded mailer. Additionally, and this artist always thinks in terms of the "little fellow" - they are affordable to Mr. and Mrs. Everyman, with hearts available for, as I recall, as little as $18.
Elsewhere in this same gallery is a special exhibit of new members' art - that is, of work by artists who have joined the association within the past one, two or three years. This is an original and interesting concept, and tells something about the level of ability as well as about the variety of art being produced by artists interested in marketing their work through the NHAA.
Two galleries in this spacious facility have been given over to the new members' art, allowing each artist two selections (no massive works) for the exhibit. There's too much to report on, but among the many interesting entries, I noted one etching by new member Bob Askey, a former advertising executive who lived abroad and worked for a major American ad agency and subsequently returned home to found his own agency. Now retired, with more time available, he created the intricately detailed imaginative etching, "Sam's Dream." Featuring fantasy combinations - and reflecting perhaps the bizarre architecture and forms similar to those found in places such as Macao and Las Vegas - it has a sort of "around the 2000-plus world in a second" feeling about it. The artist happened to walk into the gallery as I was admiring the work and said he'd had a lot of fun creating it. It's always helpful to put a face behind any work of art - one of the reasons to attend openings when they occur.
Portrait painters might be interested in another exhibit here - an entire wall filled with portraits painted by Omer Lassonde (1903-1980), a former president and a co-founder of the NHAA, whose Boscawen homestead became his generous gift to the group. The NHAA has recently been awarded a $15,000 operating grant from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, one of the largest grants it has ever received.
Several York artists are members of the NHAA, including artist-teacher Norma Machado, who won an award for pastel at the non-profit organization's recent Dunfey exhibition honoring Joan Dunfey, former director of the Prescott Parks Art Festival, which was co-juried by York Harbor's Mary Harding, curator of the Marshall Store Gallery, and York's Mary Leigh Call Smart, art patron and collector.
Every year, Manchester's Currier Gallery of Art holds an exhibition of NHAA members' work. This year, due to renovations at the Currier, that annual exhibition is more accessible, that is, closer to us, running through April 7 at The Art Gallery of the University of New Hampshire in Durham; the delightful Valentine hearts are at The Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery at 136 State St., Portsmouth, open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.
