AMP: Art Market Provincetown
432 Commercial St.
Nik Key of Norwalk, Conn. and Kate McLauchlan from Bergen County, N.J. are visiting Provincetown for the weekend. They are drawn to Rick Wrigley’s Sculpture No. 4, a tightly constructed wall assemblage made with a combination of white oak, mahogany, paint, and brass. “There are two types of shapes — geometric ones with straight edges and more organic-looking ones with curves,” says Key. “And in this piece, the artist manages to incorporate both in a way that is perfectly pieced together. It’s stunning to me.”
Room 68
377 Commercial St.
Sam Schofield from Chicago is in town for a wedding and to visit his in-laws in Barnstable. This is his first Friday night gallery stroll. He is admiring Jeremy Miranda’s Azaleas at Room 68. “It reminds me of a fantasy land,” says Schofield. “There are all these vibrant colors and a brightly sunlit lawn, and the bright pink flowers in the center of it all. It feels too perfect to actually exist, and that’s what I like so much. It still manages to be so compelling.”
Four Eleven Gallery
411 Commercial St.
Garrett McDonnell is a designer and artist visiting from Albuquerque who used to live in Provincetown. He is looking at Pete Hocking’s The Wonders of This World. “It’s so bright and looms large, with all of these jagged, angular shapes,” he says. “The perspective reminds me of how it feels to walk in the middle of the dunes and look around suddenly to be met with a really disorienting view. I feel like I’m being sucked into an infinite fractal of dunes.”
Julie Heller East
465 Commercial St.
James Weigle spends his summers in Provincetown and lives in Columbus, Ohio the rest of the year. He taught art at the Columbus College of Art and Design for 33 years. At Julie Heller East, he is enraptured by Paul Resika’s House With Yellow Sky. “I’ve admired Resika’s painting for many years, and it has taken me a long time to understand his work as much as I do now,” says Weigle. “There is an unashamed boldness in the way that he paints. This painting is a synthesis of how he looks at Provincetown, moving away from photographic postcard realism in favor of interpretation. It’s about capturing a summary of an idea of a place rather than a specific moment.” He shifts his position slightly and considers the painting again. “You feel the energy of the painting no matter where you are in this space. The yellow sky makes it look like it’s shouting. It’s screaming!”
Woodman/Shimko Gallery
346 Commercial St.
Randy Broomhall-Dillard and Karl Coleman divide their time between Cambridge and Provincetown and say that they treasure the Friday night gallery stroll. Tonight, they are excited by Jeff Osmond’s large scale Monumental #8 at Woodman/Shimko Gallery. “It’s such a different depiction of a sight we’re all so used to seeing every day, and which we love,” says Broomhall-Dillard. “I’ve always been a fan of the Pilgrim Monument,” adds Coleman. “The lime green and light blue pattern that the artist uses to frame and inflect it is a really interesting and beautiful spin on a familiar scene.”
William Scott Gallery
439 Commercial St.
Fermin Rojas is a year-round resident of Provincetown. He is transfixed by John Dowd’s Three Piers in Moonlight, which depicts an iconic view of Provincetown Harbor at night with a particular emphasis on the reflections in the water. “I’m in awe of Dowd’s masterful use of color in this one,” he says. “I love how it captures the place we live in and a scene we know so well. It reminds me of how magical it is here. It feels like poetry.”
