Exhibition Duration: January 30th, 2024 — March 30th, 2024
Virtual Reception: Thursday, February 8th, 2024 at 6:30pm
In-Person Reception: Friday, February 9th, 2024 at 6:30pm – 9:30pm
On January 30th, 2024, through March 30th, 2024, Alfa Art Gallery will be opening its doors to display the first installment of the 2024 New Brunswick Art Salon series, “The Art of Perspective”, a photography exhibition. Free and open to the public, this eight-week exhibition will feature the works of photographers from the tri-state area and beyond, using their eye for creativity to transform traditional subjects and instill new perspectives on their community so they can see their environment in a new way.
In the age of technology, where cameras and social media are so readily accessible, the art of photography is often taken for granted. “The Art of Perspective” promises to shift the narrative, inviting attendees to physically immerse themselves in a world of visual wonderment and celebrate moments frozen in time that capture the very essence of life within a single frame. The art salon will spotlight a diverse collection of images from both emerging talents and seasoned photographers, presenting a blend of creative perspectives and abstract storytelling. Each photograph serves as a window into the artists’ unique visions; as viewers interpret and connect with the work, their engagement will provoke conversation and introspection that cannot be replicated through technology.
“The Art of Perspective” is the newest exhibition in the over-decade-long tradition of Alfa’s New Brunswick Art Salon (NBAS) program. Alfa Art Gallery invites you to join us for another captivating showing of talents from fine artists near and far, located at 108 Church Street, New Brunswick, open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Featured photographers: Anthony Buccino, Arik Gorban, Cheryl Bomba, Danny Froyen, David Anderson, Dennis Maida, Dwight Hiscano, Frederick Ballet, Kay Kenny, Samuel Vovsi, Tsveta Ubcheva
Anthony Buccino is a writer, editor, and photographer based in Nutley, New Jersey. He began his photography journey by shooting film for the stories he produced while working for local newspapers. As such, each of his photographs aims to tell a story, powerfully highlighting unique everyday subjects through different points of perspective. Buccino’s eye for capturing scenes with differing shapes and overlapping patterns establishes a sense of rhythm within his works that encourages viewers’ eyes to traverse throughout the image.
Arik Gorban has been immersed in the world of photography from a very young age. As both a photographer and an instructor of photography, he devotes his work to exploring the creative facets of the medium. Gorban’s process encompasses film photography, darkroom work, and extensive digital image editing that come together to produce images that are reflective of his feelings and interpretation of the subject. The many techniques he implements are visible throughout his works, incorporating elements of motion and space that create intriguing compositions. Gorban’s pieces maintain an air of mystery and anomaly that almost entices viewers to step into each photo and explore the scene.
Cheryl Bomba began her photography career as a special education teacher, photographing portraits of her students with autism. Today, her main subjects of interest include small moments from life found in nature, architecture, and sculpture, which she then adds her own creative vision to. She achieves harmony in her pieces through her use of color, rhythm, and proportion, thus creating new perspectives on everyday subjects. In addition to creating her own work, Bomba strives to help other photographers achieve their visions as well, as the instructor of “iPhonography at Ellarslie,” a hands-on course that teaches the basics and creative potential of photography via the iPhone.
Danny Froyen is a Belgian-born violinist and photographer, whose unconventional style of photography reflects that of abstract paintings. Froyen accomplishes his goal of “raising the ordinary to the extraordinary” by capturing subjects from everyday life and portraying them from a new perspective. The colors and light of nature combine with digitally edited abstract forms to create painterly compositions that invite us to experience Froyen’s vision and full spectrum of emotions. His recent series, “Decayed to Reclaimed” emphasizes this, by aiming to combine the melancholy of music with the beauty of nature.
David Anderson searches for abstraction in representation. Based in Hopewell, New Jersey, Anderson also served as the President of The Princeton Photography Club. Objects become unrecognizable in Anderson’s compositions, as the contrast between the individual shapes and objects forms edges in which new patterns and systems can be witnessed and unveil the principle elements of design present in the world surrounding us. Furthermore, the materiality of these objects too becomes unfamiliar, challenging our understanding of what an object is and where it comes from.
Frederick Ballet transforms the natural world into surreal and otherworldly landscapes in his photographic works. Based in New Jersey and New York, Ballet worked as an orthopedic surgeon and at his own hand surgery practice for 35 years before his retirement. His photos almost resemble paintings in how soft the colors and the border between the sky and the ocean are. The connection between the physical realm and the psyche is the inspiration behind Ballet’s works, which utilize digital manipulation and other interferences of the artist’s hand to show more than what is visible to the eye.
Dennis Maida first discovered photography in 2008 in New Orleans while serving in the U.S. military, with the medium serving as both grounding and therapeutic force for him and his then undiagnosed PTSD. He was quickly driven to landscape and astrophotography but has also explored various other genres within the medium. Clarity and focus are the key elements in Maida’s works. While his photographs depict various subjects, each image’s composition is organized to clearly highlight every individual part within the larger narrative captured in his photos. Alongside his professional work, Maida founded the f/22 project, an organization supporting veterans with PTSD through photography.
Dwight Hiscano has documented various natural and urban landscapes through photography for many years, traveling across various parts of the world and partaking in conservation practices. An atypical approach is used in his award-winning photograph series, “Trees From Above”, where Hiscano uses a drone lens to capture black and white photos of the trees from a bird’s eye view. The striking composition of the works in this series put the dark, vein-like branches of the tree right against the snow-white background, evoking imagery of biological systems such as organs and cells and comparing those systems to the role of trees for the planet.
Kay Kenny is a painter, photographer, writer, and educator based in the New Jersey and New York area. She has taught for over 25 years at the New York University and the International Center of Photography in New York City as a photography professor and has written for several artists’ magazines. Her works are dream-like in their color and composition. The relationship between life and waste is documented in intimate close-ups through Kenny’s pigment photographic prints, “Lips of the Sea,” an ongoing series capturing the flora and fauna that live down in the seabed.
Samuel Vovsi was originally a mathematics professor and computer programmer; however, he has since redirected his attention to his long-lasting passion for photography in the past few years. His most recent works explore space and distortion through a series of black and white photos depicting an unusual city and its inhabitants. Buildings and the very streets of this city are blurred and muddied, extending their presence across the composition while bringing attention to the various figures that inhabit this surreal space.
Tsveta Ubcheva is a Bulgarian artist specializing in various fields and disciplines who uses art as a connecting device between the individual and the universe. She applies her chemical engineering background to her art practice, believing that everything in nature influences each other and thus is open to change. In creating works that directly engage with the viewer, Ubcheva explores Dr. David Hawkin’s theory on human consciousness and its layers through her photographic series, “Levels of Consciousness.
Opening Receptions: The in-person opening reception will be open to the public, we hope to see you, your friends and family on Friday, February 9 th at 6:30pm. There will be refreshments and snacks provided. If you are unable to attend, Alfa Art Gallery will also be holding a virtual opening reception on Thursday, February 8 th at 6:30pm. The links to this opening can be found on Alfa’s website and social media closer to the exhibition opening.
About the NBAS Exhibitions:
Alfa Art Gallery utilizes New Brunswick Art Salons to unify the local art community and beyond. Since starting the program in 2010, Alfa has made a point to include a salon dedicated to showcasing watercolor & mixed media pieces. Over the years, the series has not only exhibited works from both established and emerging artists, but has also made fruitful connections locally and internationally through its successful programs. Within this non-profit organization, Alfa Art Gallery maintains its mission to uplift artists by providing an open and innovative environment. These exhibitions are free and open to the public, Tuesday to Saturday from 11am to 6pm.
Sponsors:
Alfa’s exhibitions are made possible by:
- Johnson & Johnson
- Merck Co
- GSK
- New Brunswick City Market
- Amboy Bank
- Middlesex County Cultural, and Heritage Commission
- Magyar Bank
- The Bank of Princeton
