Photo / Sheila Lennon
Keyboards and strings often find their way into pianist Mark Taber's humorous creations.

Happy spring. If you're up for a celebration, here's the press release.

Art Show: Featuring Mark Taber! @ Above Providence Optical

Thursday, March 20th
From 5-9 p.m.
75 Weybosset St.
Providence, RI 02903
401-351-4994

You are cordially invited to celebrate the opening of our newly renovated second floor gathering space for art and music! We are excited and privileged to announce the musical performance of Mark Taber during the opening event on Thursday, March 20th from 5-9 p.m. The opening exhibit will include an eclectic mix of works by several talented artists:

Mark Taber: It's not often that the combination of dumpsters, recycling and imagination creates works of shear beauty; but in the case of work by Mark Taber--it goes far beyond that... Mark Taber's "Dream Vehicles" series encompasses a universe of both complexity and nostalgic, childhood humor. Mr. Taber's pieces produce as many questions about both his and our universe as they do answer them: What is trash, and how does it become reinvented into beauty? Who is the Night Watchman? Where did he live? And who the heck is Odell Washington? Here at Above Providence Optical, we are both honored and delighted to display one of Mr. Taber's great works entitled "Night Watchman's Buggy", one in a series of many "Dream Vehicles" in the upcoming months.

Rachel Cyrene Blackman: Featuring a series of digital images that reference American Sign Language. Her work is a syncretism on a variety of levels; combining language, color and image. Blackman delivers a philosophical conundrum to those interested in language and communication with her digital photography entitled '...her name...'. The images become notation, and give us a glimpse into a world where the composition is the creator and the creator becomes part of the composition. The greater portion of Blackman's formal 'artistic training' is as a musician--and her pieces maintain this compositional integrity throughout her work.

Maryjean Viano Crowe: Featuring "Pie in the Sky", an assembled gelatin silver print from constructed negatives (Black & White series). Maryjean Viano Crowe uses materials in unique ways to create large-scale photographic tableaux, artist books, mixed media constructions, and light box shrines. Her work has been exhibited nationally, and was the subject of a feature article in Popular Photography in 1992. Included in numerous museum collections, including the Polaroid International Collection and the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, Crowe received a 1995 National Endowment for the Arts, and a 1987 Massachusetts Artists Foundation Fellowship, a grant for which she was a three time Finalist.

Bob Zuck: Featuring "Smokestack Cadillac" Oil on board. Mr. Zuck's work has an industrial hyperrealistic feel; concise color and appropriate dimensional qualities fulfill the gap between imagination and reality.

Teresa A. Mowery: Featuring "Pheonix" and "Warrior", two found-object wall installations. Teresa Mowery started her artistic endeavors as a painter but early on became intrigued with jewelry and metalworking. It is at Above Providence Optical that one may observe Mowery's earlier work using found objects. Mowery is known for her unique capabilities of using patina on copper to create home decor pieces and furniture.

Onega Astaltsova: Featuring "Mackerel on Table", acrylic on canvas. "Cezannesque touches... and faceted painting style that gives everything a vaguely crystalline look"... (Bill Van Siclen, Providence Journal 2007).

Please come and enjoy the evening with us!

Photo / Sheila Lennon
This Taber piece was shown in a garage last September.