Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

IN TOWN | IN APRIL: WEEK ONE

Weekend_040408

It’s been a while since our last visit to the McKay Gallery, an interval that seems to have coincided with the entirety of winter. Were Bob & Liz McKay in hibernation, or were we?

Rbo_3b

Never mind: winter is over. The calendar says it, the air and trees are beginning to reluctantly agree, and the debut of a new exhibit upstairs at 12 Monmouth Street seals it.

Why? Because McKay openings are, in some corners, not only emblematic of the vitality of Red Bank’s art scene, but perhaps the finest forum for expressing it. People come out, climb the stairs, mingle in close quarters over plastic cups of wine and discuss pictures, among other topics. And before they’ve made it back down to the sidewalk, they’re looking ahead to the next one.

The latest McKay show opens tomorrow night and runs through April 14. It features the work of Geanna Merola, who often makes “photograms,” or cameraless images created by laying objects directly onto photo paper and exposing them to light.

Her show, ‘Luminance & Order,” features a number of photograms of glass shards worn down by ocean waves and sand. The effect, Merola says in a prepared statement, is to “make them appear sensuous and mysterious, often resembling x-rays or artifacts from an archaeological dig.”

Also included are montage-like images of bottles created by slicing and rearranging negatives and then making contact prints.

The bottles, says Merola, “were found in the sandy soil beneath my studio while excavating during renovation. Over time they have acquired a soft patina of dirt and sand. They have become artifacts, which have been discovered and classified in a visual way.”

Given that bottles serve as source material for the sea-ground bits of glass, says Merola, the images “close a conceptual circuit.”

Merola has a home in Ocean Grove and teaches photography and the history of photography at Brookdale Community College. She’s shown her work internationally.

Now, she closes a circuit with a show hosted by two graduates of the Brookdale photography program: Liz & Bob McKay. And art lovers get to start a new, seasonal circuit.

Email this story

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
Partyline
RED TRUCKS AT RED ROCK
A small dishwasher fire at Red Rock Tap and Grill was put out quickly by firefighters overnight, causing minimal damage. Red Bank Fire Depar ...
CREATIVE COVER UP
The windows of Pearl Street Consignment on Monmouth Street were smashed when a driver crashed their car through them injuring an employee la ...
THEY’RE BACK!
Ospreys returned to the skies over Red Bank this week for the first time since they migrated to warmer climes in late fall. With temperature ...
SPRING IS SPRUNG
RED BANK: Spring 2024 arrives on the Greater Red Bank Green with the vernal equinox at 11:06 p.m. Tuesday.
RED BANK’S FINEST – AND NEWEST
Red Bank Police Officer Eliot Ramos was sworn in as the force’s newest patrolman Thursday, and if you’re doing a double take thinkin ...
EASTER EGG MAYHEM AT THE PARK
An errant whistle spurred an unexpectedly early start to the Spring Egg Hunt on Sunday, which had been scheduled to begin at eggsactly 11am ...
PRESEASON DOCKWORK
RED BANK: With winter winding down, marina gets ready for boating season with some dockwork on our beautiful Navesink River.
CORNED BEEF AND DISCO FRIES?
It’s Friday, and smart Lent-observing Leprechauns know the pot of gold at the end of Red Bank’s rainbow is actually the deliciou ...
SURFBOARD DITCHED
It’s a violation of etiquette in surfing to ditch your board.  (it could hit another surfer and hurt them). But someone appears to ha ...
ELSIE, TAKE ME WITH YOU!
Soaked by pouring rain with the temperature hovering in the low 40’s, this sign in the window of Elsie’s Subs on Monmouth Street ...
WALK THIS WAY
PARTYLINE: Before-and-afters of a sidewalk cleanup on West Street.
SOGGY NOTION
RED BANK: Breezeway sculpture captured the mood downtown as heavy rains fell Saturday morning.
HOME DELIVERY
RED BANK: After a subdivision, an instant house rises on a new Catherine Street lot.
COMMUNITY PROFILES
For Black History Month, Red Bank's Community Engagement and Equity Advisory Committee has been running a series of local profiles on Facebo ...
HEARTY FAREWELL FOR HARDY
RED BANK: Council to honor DPU supervisor Rich Hardy, who retired recently after almost 39 years of keeping things running.
HOMEBOUND? READ ON…
RED BANK: Can't get to the public library? It's now offering free delivery and pickups for homebound borough residents.
TAMING A BEAST OF A WEEK
RED BANK: After the second snowfall of the week, a borough family finds the perfect use for it – a Godzilla snow sculpture.
RED BANK: LIBRARY CLOSED, BUT THE HILL’S OPEN
RED BANK: Though the library was closed by a snowstorm, kids got to enjoy the riverfront property's steep slope Tuesday.
LIGHT(HOUSE) MAKEOVER
This year, getting ready for spring means a midwinter makeover for Strollo's Lighthouse in Red Bank.
TODAY: LOCAL PUPPY COMPETES ON ANIMAL PLANET’S “PUPPY BOWL”
Red Bank’s very own rescue puppy, Biscuit, is set to compete in Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl this Sunday, February 11, at 2 PM. Th ...