A Deep Look In and Out
"Gallery exhibits work from three emerging artists of the
Capital Region"
Albany Center Gallery's annual 22nd Annual Mohawk Hudson Regional Invitational
featuring select artists Allen Bryan, Philip J. Palmieri, and Matthew Peebles
opens April 3 and runs through May 9, 2009. The opening reception will be
held on Friday, April 3 and the closing reception will be held on Friday,
May 1 both from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and conjunction with 1st Friday. Albany
Center Gallery is located at 39 Columbia Street between N. Pearl and Broadway
in Downtown Albany, NY.
Allen Bryan graduating from SUNY, New Paltz with a degree in art education
and has been exhibiting his photographs since 1990. His works have been
exhibited in venues such as Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art in New Palz, NY,
Center for Photography at Woodstock, and Long Beach Island Center for the
Arts in NJ. His works are part of the collection at Marist College Theatre
Building in Poughkeepsie, NY, McDonalds Corp. and Benedictine Hospital in
Kingston, NY. Leah Douglas, director and curator of Exhibitions Program
at Philadelphia International Airport said of Bryan's work, “Time
has also taken its toll upon the interiors of Allen Bryan’s panoramic
color photographs. The images are reminiscent of a stage set where there
is an anxious, disquieting sense that something has just happened or is
about to happen. Doors remain open, lights are on, but no one is present.
Bryan leaves clever hints, but it is up to the viewer to imagine the rest.”
The photographs on exhibit at Albany Center Gallery are part of Bryan's
Comforts of Home Series. Bryan states in his artists statement, "Planes,
perspective and depth of field are somewhat distorted as in a dream. There
is a precarious balance between inside and outside space intruding on each
other". Upon closer examination, a hyper narrative begins to unfold
and the masterful digital montages of interior and exterior imagery collide.
Philip J. Palmieri resides in Loudonville, NY and currently works as a physician
in Albany, specializing in Infectious Diseases. For the past several years,
Palmieri has been painting the figure and has recently been painting over
antiquated surgical text books. Several of his paintings are in numerous
private collections. He has exhibited his work at the Barrett Arts Center
in Poughkeepsie, NY, and The Arkell Museum, Canajoharie, NY. Palmieri often
paints autobiographical portraits.
Matthew Peebles was born in 1978 and lives and works in Albany, NY. Peebles
received his M.F.A. from the State University of New York at Albany and
his B.F.A. from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Recently, he has exhibited
his work in a two person exhibit at the Saratoga County Arts Council and
a group exhibit at the Arts Center of the Capital Region. His works are
part of the collection at the University at Albany Art Museum. Peebles states,
"My sculptures have always dealt with portraiture and the human form,
but more recently I have begun incorporating architectural and landscape
elements into my work. Through my manipulation of scale, materials and processes,
they often become distorted. Small scale feel monumental, while large scale
can seem to grow, contract or undulate. Loosely autobiographical and self
deprecatory, my sculptures, comment on not only the artist's struggle, but
the human struggle as well. By incorporating adolescent humor with adult
ideas, my work makes light of life's darker issues".
