Reviewed by Matthew Pitcher
Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts gallery is back at it again with another highly impressive exhibit. The “Summer Salon Group Exhibition,” on display through September, showcases 10 artists who employ a wide range of creative mediums and styles. The atmosphere of this show is like a carnival with the flashing lights in Sungchul Hong’s high-tech perceptual mirrors, the food appeal of Jae Yong Kim’s glimmering doughnut wall, the vendor memorabilia in Ray Gross’ larger-than-life paint tubes and brushes, and the oddity in Jamie Salmon’s hyperrealistic Phillip.
Salmon’s sculpture, a standout in the show, is scaled one to three (1:3) in proportion to the man’s face. Its sheer presence is enough to leave you in awe. The viewer doesn’t know whether to be fearful or amazed by its life-like detail.
Realism was a dominating feature in the show with photorealism artworks from Bruce Evans, Charles Hartley and Richard Heisler. A personal favorite was Hartley’s tryptic painting, Glowing Water.
With the flashing lights in Perceptual mirror circle, Perceptual mirror A and Perceptual mirror B, Hong combines science and the aesthetic in an innovative art form. Using solar LCD units in Plexiglass, Hong ingeniously showcases some of our modern-day technology in action. The movement of the lights is mesmerizing, leaving you perplexed with how the contraption works.
Hong also is exhibiting String_hands_0326, a print on elastic strings in a steel plate. This illusionary artwork contains space that separates each individual string, but, once perceived as a whole, its printed image depicts the beautiful entanglement of human hands connected as one.
Gross’ whimsical larger-than-life paint tubes and brushes feature blockbuster artists such as Dali, Picasso and Warhol right on the tubes. These would fit well in any painter’s studio as they already come with paint splattered on them.
A fan favorite of the exhibit was Korean artist Kim’s Donut think too much be happy or, as I like to call it, The Homer Simpson Doughnut Hall of Fame. This glimmering display of 151 hand-crafted ceramic doughnuts amazed viewers at July’s First Friday art walk. You could see individuals pointing to their favorite doughnut as each one had its own unique quality. No thought is needed to be happy about a spectacle like this. Even though not actually edible, the food was still inspiring.
Other artists in the exhibit are Alan Coulson, who displayed an oil painting of a beautiful women called Janis; Ernie Viverias, who had a stunning piece displayed right as you walk in called Dahlias in light, and Jeremy Penn, who display three mirrors with text embedded in them: Halo, Vice and my favorite, Desire.
IF YOU GO: The gallery, located on 186 State St., Binghamton, is open 6 to 9 p.m. on First Fridays, from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and by appointment (call 607-624-3406).
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