One of Halton Hills' curators of the arts has once again joined forces with Heather’s Bakery to bring added warmth and whimsy to its walls in downtown Georgetown.
Connie Munson's latest show, called Summertime… When the Livin’ is Easy, does exactly what it says, showing various summer scenes through diverse photography techniques.
The images from four artists – Frank Myers, Jeffrey J. Nagy, Aditi Sangwan and Susan Spiteri – grace the walls of Heather’s.
They consist of realistic slices of life, abstract works as well as creative camera tricks.
“We’re so hyper-focused on what's immediately in front of us and the to-do list - I think anything that takes us out of ourselves and [makes us] look at a literal big picture is important,” Munson said when asked why public art is important.
“I think we get trapped into the mundane.”
Heather’s patrons get to see Myers’ candid moments. Girls marvelling at a perfume shop’s display window in Montreal, someone being greeted in the doorway of a colourful St. John’s home and kids in Coney Island beckon the eye to be curious.
For Coney Island, Myers was “really struck by the place” and what he calls its “iconic and mythical” status in New York City’s culture.
“It’s serendipity. It’s having your eyes open and being ready to recognize these moments when they happen,” the retired community television and cable company worker said.
Nagy’s abstract piece dominates the display wall at the local eatery. He used motion blur on daisies in Port Credit to create the illusion of a painting.
“I play with [shutter] speed. I go fast, I go slow, take the picture, look at it… that’s where I start playing with it,” Nagy said in explaining his process.
When asked what sorts of subjects grab his attention for a photo, he boiled his answer down to a simple philosophy. The French have the expression "l'appel du vide," meaning the call of the void.
It's that quiet voice in the back of one’s mind that attempts to compel someone to do the unthinkable. While there certainly are extreme, self-destructive examples of this, it doesn’t have to be. Are you standing on top of a cliff overlooking a lake? Why not dive into the lake? Debating asking out that special someone at the risk of embarrassing rejection? Do it anyway.
The call of the void pushes Nagy to really enjoy life by taking in the details of his surroundings.
“Feel life," he said. "You don’t have to be scared, but enjoy the excitement. There’s a lot out there going on.”
Sangwan’s mixed media pieces in cyanotype make several cherry blossoms pop. Cyanotype is an iron-based chemical photography process that creates rich blue colours. She was not available for an interview, but she appears to emphasize the colour blue in many of her works.
Meanwhile, this is Spiteri's debut exhibition, a fact she called “really exciting and something new.”
Her photos, taken just as the camera breaks the surface of Bahamian beach water, create a mesmerizing effect.
“For me, the sea was always important. It was always something I was fascinated by," said the native of Malta, an island in the Mediterranean.
And of course, Munson’s own photos of rural settings are there for all to see as well.
The show is on until the end of August, after which a new exhibition will take over the following month.
