When we were on the island of Mallorca earlier this summer I kept trying to imagine how anyone could get anything done in the heat and all that sun. We had just seen a show in Madrid by the Mallorcan artist, Bernardi Roig, and we knew that Miró lived and worked here for many years. All over the world the art scene slows down in the summer, even the commercial galleries in Chelsea. First Friday here in Rochester was proportionally quiet but we did find two very rewarding shows.
Pete Monacelli’s “Tribute to Miles Davis” features a series of recent drawings. Pete carefully rules horizontal lines in playful free association. And he contrasts that with loosely scrubbed india ink or gouache washes. Each piece is named after a Miles song and for a fan of the master this brings the drawings to life. Looking at a piece named after a track on “Bitches Brew” I was reminded of the time Pete invited me over to his studio to look at his work while we listened to that album on 16rpm. It was a mind-blowing experience.
Anne Havens was at Pete’s opening and we learned she is preparing for a show at the end of this summer. Although she has finished enough for a lifetime it has been far too long since we have seen new work from her. This is exciting news.
R Gallery, an RIT student-run joint on College Avenue, has a strong graphic show mounted on its walls. The front pages of newspapers from around the country. In class on 9/11/2001, Eric Kunsman, Applied Photo Art I instructor, asked his students to contact family and friends and ask them to collect their hometown newspapers from the days after the 9/11 attack. Three weeks later, the class spread out the 121 unique newspapers collected to begin a discussion of the different representations of the photographs, headlines, and articles. The sensational pages are framed and mounted here and with some distance they read as powerful reactions to that incredible event rather than reporting on the act.
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