The Parsonage Gallery Launches New Season

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Two solo exhibitions by Maine artists explore spiritual themes during Lent

The Parsonage Gallery launches its first new exhibitions of the year this Saturday, March 11 at 1pm.

Exhibitions include solo shows by two celebrated Maine artists, abstract painter Grace DeGennaro and photographer Jack Montgomery, curated by Dr. Aaron Rosen, an expert on art and religion.

DeGennaro’s exhibition Platonic Structures features mesmerizing patterns and optical illusions rendered in brilliant colors.  The show is inspired by the five solid geometric forms that the ancient Greeks believed made up the physical world, and which Plato associated with fire, air, water, earth, and cosmos.  Writer Hannah Bevens notes:  “The colorful, carefully calibrated illusions that these paintings project draw the viewer in to look closer.  And slower.”

Montgomery’s exhibition La Settimana Santa explores the rituals of Holy Week, leading up to Easter.  “I set off for Sicily,” the artist reflects, “to understand what touches 3.3 billion Christians (of whom 1.3 billion are Catholics) during their Holy Week of penitence, mourning, and joy.  I chose the hill towns of Sicily, where rituals dating back as many as 1,000 years are still practiced.  I was not disappointed, though at times I was uneasy.”

In addition to these two exhibitions, the opening will include a special screening of the short film A Father’s Kaddish, featuring Raku master Steven Branfman, co-sponsored by the Maine Jewish Film Festival & Maine Jewish Museum, with tea curated by Observatory.

About the Parsonage

The Parsonage exhibits dynamic work by a diverse slate of contemporary artists exploring issues of ecology and spirituality.  It seeks to prompt important and enlivening conversations in Maine and far beyond through exhibitions, residencies, and workshops.  The Parsonage is located in a classic Federalist estate in Searsport’s historic district, looking out to the ocean.  It was home to the renowned abolitionists Rev. Stephen & Clara Thurston, whose nephew Winslow Homer visited and sketched the property.  The gallery is a program of the not-for-profit Common Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3).

Contact Information

The Parsonage Gallery

8 Elm Street, Searsport, Maine, 04974

https://parsonagegallery.org/

Pictured here: Jack Montgomery, Bride of Christ Photograph and handmade wood assemblage, 2023