Downtown Buffalo's CEPA Gallery recently hosted an employee soir?(c)e at Express for Men apparel, where jeans and tuxedos meshed like Ebony and Ivory.
More importantly, the mixed gathering celebrated the grand opening of CEPA's newest exhibit: Beyond in Western New York.
CEPA is one of 12 galleries participating in the show and welcomed guests free-of-charge, all the while offering complimentary food, drinks and live music.
The atmosphere proved as laid back as the silky smooth voice of Ella Fitzgerald projected throughout the gallery, later followed by the Family Guy theme song.
One standout exhibit was Wilka Roig's photography piece Traced, 2007. The work is a large-scale display packed with innovative photographs. Visitors were able to approach a smiling Roig and inquire about the inspiration for her artwork.
Roig spoke of relationships and people coming in and out of her life. When she sees someone intriguing, she thinks, "This is the life I could have had." She then proceeds to take a photograph of herself in that life by wearing the same outfit as her muse and standing next to them in their own personal space.
Next in notoriety was Hans Gindlesberger and his digitally retouched piece Gone to Seed.
The photograph in size was 24 walking-strides long and about 18 inches tall. With large, modern homes soaring in the background, it portrays the end of an era for a dead small town.
In the photo, a pile of mattresses are found in front of a hotel that promises sweet dreams, a used-car sign illuminates a vacant lot, and the body of a fast food icon, Big Boy, is half buried into the ground. Two objects move in the photograph with the help of projectors. One moving image, in more ways than one, is a farmer watering his seeds.
The colors of the photo were true to life and introduce the idea that photographs do not have to fit into an 8 X 10 inch frame.
"CEPA was very well organized with lots of different elements and different styles of photography," said UB art student and Kenmore native Patrick Galante.
Scientist Tammy Rene Brackett's Clio Cognomen was a unique presentation of video, scrolls and one intriguing quilt. One of the patches had been removed from the seemingly un-Kosher quilt and replaced with an old family video.
This abstract concept represents the idea that images sewn into blankets, or any pictures for that matter, stand for a much greater, more detailed memory a person carries.
Another piece by Brackett, typed on two scrolls and shown on video, were the letters: GAGGCTT.
This is, in fact, an excerpt from human genetic make-up. More explicitly, it's part of the 144 pages of the end of the base pair sequence of the X chromosome, according to Brackett.
This sequence showing video will surely give onlookers a new appreciation for DNA-themed art.
A brisk elevator ride up to the top floor of the gallery lead to the pieces of the Juxtaposed show. Here, 18-year-old Dario Mohr of Buffalo put his doodles on display. Onlookers were greeted by Mohr's sketchbook swaying from the ceiling over a hand-painted chair.
Intrigued patrons were then lead by Mohr to his jaw-dropping piece Recycled. Its vibrant colors, courtesy of leftover acrylic from Mohr's palette, empty paint tubes and dried-up glue were all adhered to cardboard.
"I do the same thing," said Michele Sveinsson, a sophomore biochemistry major. "I save stuff and hopefully collage it later."
Mohr's work was simple yet very symbolic. The artist speaks out about the need to live in sync with our environment and minimize the depletion of our resources.
A trip to CEPA holds the ability to make art enthusiasts see things from a different perspective. It challenges everyone to make sense of abstract art, which is a thriving entity in Buffalo.
The exhibit will be on display at the CEPA Gallery until Dec. 21.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
