“Sweet & Sour,” the title of Stephanie McMahon’s oil on panel painting (above, click photo for full painting) pretty well summarizes my reaction to this year’s Finger Lakes show. I really like this painting. It is playful and surprising, fun and spatially engaging. What more could you ask for? I really liked Lanna Pejovic’s “The Listener II.” We had seen a show of her work recently at the former Bausch & Lomb headquarters. This one picks up where those left off, drawing you in to and under the arches as the ground comes roaring forward. Quite a sensation! The hand of the artist is clearly present in these two paintings. And that’s what I like.
This year’s judge is not so interested in the rough and tumble. There is a distant polish to a lot of the work here, a few hyper realism pieces way over polished. It is a really nice looking show, mostly of a piece with an abundance of abstracts. Of course it’s hard to take a show in on opening night and when I go back I’m sure I’ll find something with some guts. If I want decorative I’ll go to the MAG’s store.
Upstairs in the ballroom we spotted our neighbor, Domnika, as we walked in. She told us the band is great. We already knew that. They were playing Bob Marley’s “Could You Be Loved” and they sounded just like the record. She told us she came up here first and had not even seen the show yet. It was almost eleven.
The band is called “Shine.” The three vocalists were fantastic. In the short time we were there they did Michael Jackson’s “ABC,” Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together,” and then got us out on the dance floor with Stevie Wonder’s “Superstitious.” Somebody has to book this band for a party and invite us.
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