“Some people absolutely love Asbury Park,” Bob & Elisabeth McKay of the McKay Gallery say in a statement about their next show. “Others remember it fondly as they take great care to drive around it.”
Artists, of course, are among those who can’t get enough of the place. Which meant the McKays had plenty of material to choose from when they decided to feature Asbury Park in their second curated show of urban photographs focused on life in a single city (the first, in September and October, was New York City).
And though the subject matter of a haunted boardwalk environ may seem overly familiar, “it was impossible to predict the beauty and sentiment that the ruinous cast of many of the images would portray,” the couple say.
Taken together, the selected work “displays, at once, a soft patina of age and a sense of bright promise that makes you want to be a part of (Asbury) and its inevitable renaissance.”
While the gallery is devoted to photography, this show roams a bit beyond the usual borders of the form into the realms of oil painting, posters, collage and video. Should be an interesting mix in what is always a convivial space.
The show opens Friday, Dec. 1, with a reception from 7p to 10p. and runs through Jan. 5
Artists in the show are:
David L. Brown
John Decker
Carter Farmer
Tom Gilmour
Nancy Harrison
Emilly Hueston
Sandy Johanson
James Kent
Mark Kseniak
Mark Ludak
El McCarthy
Mike McLaughlin
Jennie A. Meares
Joel Morgovsky
John Noll
Joe Paduano
Santo Pezzutti
Anthony Rodriguez
Jenifer Rutherford
Jeff Smith
Sara Stadtmiller
Marc Steiner
Michael Lucio Sternbach
Valentine
Also on display will be vintage Asbury Park photos, courtesy of Kathy Dorn Severini and Dorn’s Classic Images.
McKay Gallery is upstairs at 12 Monmouth Street. Hours are Wednesdays and Thursdays, 1p to 7p, or by appointment (732-842-2272).
