Annapolis Capital Punishment

Alan Soffer's "Manse In The Forest"












Carol Carter's "Changling"


















Art in Annapolis is no longer just about salty scenes of seagulls and sailboats. Praise the Lord! The opening of the American Contemporary Gallery is a sign that our provincial tastes in art may be giving way to something more approximating the 21st century, and what's been formulating in the minds and on the canvasses of artists for the past seventy-five years or so and has come to be known as modern art.

Annapolis native, wooden-boat aficionado and former marketing executive John Bodkin has transformed a somewhat non-descript brick building on the corner of Chinquapin Round Rd and McGuckian St into what CP hopes will be a longtime fixture that will expand our collective art sensibilities into the geographic and cultural landscape of Annapolis. The inaugural show called "Emerging Forces" took eight "painters and printmakers that express stunning power and explosive energy" according to the gallery catalog. I got there just before it was coming down and therefore you will miss it, but "New Visions" opens December 5th.

While much is abstract, Sangram Majumdar's oil on linen "Fool's Gold" might be described as super-realism, and was a favorite of CP and guests. CP especially liked the bold, acrylic colors of David Kinsey and the iconic imagery of Billy Colbert. CP ain't no art critic, though I am known in some art circles for doing a mean Sister Wendy impersonation, although she only likes classical and representational art. You can visit the American Contemporary Gallery's website at art.

Now that this corner of the sprawling and much neglected light-industrial area bordered by Chinquapin, Forest and West Streets has a modern art gallery, perhaps we should start referring to it as the "design district." It is outside of the newly and officially-designated "Arts District" closer to downtown but in some respects, it may have more potential. If we could create an overarching streetscape theme and design, build it around walking, biking and landscaping improvements, add a coffee shop or restaurant and maybe a pocket park for sitting and resting, I think we would see a massive cultural and economic renovation and uplifting of that entire area.

Kudos to Bodkin and his vision of art--and of its place in our community. (The above works are reproduced here with permission of the gallery and are from the New Visions show opening December 5th)

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