* PETER MICHELENA: PHOTOGRAPHY THROUGH THE EYES OF A DESIGNER
* CHARLES DUBACK: NATURE THE MASTER TEACHER
* STEPHEN HUYLER: INDIA UNFOLDING
On view at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockport, Maine
From June 14 to July 20, 2003

By Laurie Meunier Graves

Rockport, Maine is a little town perched on a hill above a small harbor. As is so often the case with such communities, many of the houses sit at a slant, giving the town a tilted, off-centered look. Rockport is quaint—there’s no denying it—yet it somehow manages to be modest and unassuming, especially when compared with Camden, its touristy but upscale neighbor to the north, and to Rockland, its nouveau touristy neighbor to the south. And even though Rockport is not far from busy Route One, it feels quiet and tranquil even in the middle of the summer.

In Rockport, there are few cafés and shops, but high on a hill, across from the town library, there just happens to be one of the most exciting art galleries in Maine. This gallery is the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, and it modestly bills itself as “a nonprofit organization advancing contemporary art in Maine through exhibitions and educational programs.” During the past year, I have been consistently impressed by the quality of the Center’s exhibits and the diversity of the work.

Right now, there are three terrific exhibits at the Center: upstairs, on the ground floor, and downstairs. I’m going to start downstairs, with photographs by Peter Michelena, and work my way up.

Mr. Michelena has an eye for patterns and shapes and sees them in everyday objects that most of us hardly notice, if we look at all. His large, crisp, black and white photographs feature, among other things, buildings, pillars, pipes and tanks. In one, we get a glimpse of gleaming black tea pots with their spouts all heading in the same direction. In another, pigeons rest on a roof, and not far below, people are clustered at a café. Birds of a feather? In another, there is the swirl of grass sparkling in the sun. In still another, there is a line of pedal cars—rickshaws—quiet and still.

The focus and clarity of the photographs give a sort of dignity—the dignity of being noticed—to common objects: to pale birch trees against a quarry cliff; to a broom, a shovel, and a rake in an old shed; to a collection of angel picture frames all facing the same direction. These photographs are a paradoxical mix of vividness, order, tranquility, and vitality. Mr. Michelena has brought mindfulness to the ordinary, and the ordinary shines.

On a placard at the Center, he states “My photographs do not tell a story nor do they contain hidden meanings.”

Yet, in a way, they do tell a story; it is the story of every day objects and of the patterns that occur around us. For example, in Bumper Cars at Rest, over a dozen bumper cars are tipped on their side. Again, like so many of the subjects in these photographs, they are all pointing in the same direction. It really does look as though the bumper cars are resting, that they are waiting for the next group of people who will ride and crash them into each other. They have earned their rest, and our sympathies are with them.

On the ground floor is an exhibition of paintings by Charles DuBack. These paintings span the 1950s to the present, and they display such an astonishing range of styles and techniques that it hardly seems as though the same artist did them. There is an abstract painting—Flander’s Corner—of pure lines and colors: blue, red, green, pink, yellow, and orange. Yet it reminds me of the seashore. Another—Mt. Katahdin (Forever Wild)—is a jumble of strokes and colors with no discernable pattern.

But there is also a Neil Welliver-like print of the forest; a charcoal and pastel drawing of Mount Katahdin that really does look like Katahdin; a painting of a ship with ghostly women combined with real rope, wood, and a sculptural relief of a woman; a painting of clothes hanging from pegs, except the pegs are real and so are some (but not all) of the clothes. This is just a sample of the diversity of style and subject matter in this exhibit, and it is fascinating to see so much variety coming from one artist.

Finally, upstairs is Stephen Huyler’s multi-media show of India. It’s an arresting mix of photography, music, assemblages, a ghostly mirror with changing reflections, a wall-sized print, and photography on translucent drapery. This exhibit is a riot of light, images, and sound—a lot like India is in my imagination—and just being in it is quite an experience for the senses.

It is nothing short of exciting to go to a gallery and see exhibits of this quality and range. The art at the Center is so consistently good that it’s worth braving the summer traffic on Route One to go there. Of course, along with the art, there are other things to consider in the Midcoast area: homemade chocolates in Rockland, chocolate cream pie in Thomaston, and great meals at a funky Café in Camden. But then, those are subjects best left for another essay.

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