'Body In Motion' Exhibit Happily Stretches The Limits Of Interpretation

'Body in Motion' opened at Riverhead's East End Arts Council on East Main Street Friday night. The show will remain on display until April 9. Photos by Joseph Pinciaro

Riverhead - With Daylight Saving Time just around the corner and temperatures slowly inching their way up, many East Enders who have been waiting to "spring ahead" are eager after the long winter to get out shake it up. One might go as far as to say they're ready to get their bodies in motion.

Best in Show winner Anthony Lombardo, with his photo "Waves & Rocks." Lombardo won the opportunity to showcase his work in the EEAC's Winner Show, held at the end of the year.

The East End Arts Council, located on East Main Street, opened its juried all-media show, "Body in Motion," Friday night to an eager assemblage geared up to view an eclectic mix of art showcasing photographs, paintings, poems and expressive pieces that don't quite fall into a category. EEAC's artists' interpretations included human and non-human bodies alike, moving in various fashions in the spirit of performance art, challenging the notion of the word "bodies." They fly past the literal and into the diverse and abstract.

"Last year we did Bodies in Rest," recalled Jane Kirkwood, EEAC's gallery manager for the past four and a half years. "So the idea of bodies in motion only seemed right."

It turns out the concept resonated with area artists. Christina Mossaides Strassfield, director and chief curator of the East Hampton's Guild Hall Museum, served as juror for the show and had 232 pieces to choose from. Fifty made the cut.

"The Sky's The Limit" (graphite) by Elizabeth Nehls won first place.

Water Mill resident Anthony Lombardo took home Best in Show with "Waves & Rocks," a photograph shot with a lengthened, three-second exposure taken on a beach in Montauk. Lombardo has earned the opportunity to display several of his works at the annual EEAC Winner's Show later in the year. His wife, Ann, received an Honorable Mention for "Skating" (all-media), the first time the two had ever placed together in a show.

"I was getting familiar with a new camera," Lombardo explained. He has been photographing since he was 12 years of age. "So I just played with the exposure and set the camera down on the rocks. I think it has sense of movement, which was what the subject was. I also think it connects on an emotional level, with the deep blues. It evokes a feeling from people."

The 50 pieces on display evoked a range of feelings, at least for one person. From the cheerful, Ferris Wheel-inspired "Memories of Coney" (acrylic) to the grim, mortality-reminding "My Beloved Father's Passing Away" (kodalith prints), the bodies in motion are never the same in any two pieces.

Over 230 submissions were taken for "Body in Motion," and juror Christina Mossaides Strassfield chose 50 for presentation.

"The Sky's The Limit" (graphite) and "Frenetic Motion" both show human forms in physical motion. However, the forms they take and what surrounds them make them unique: a child with baggy jeans and a glimmer in his eye climbs a ladder in one. In the other, swimmers, those cheering them on, and the water all move as one.

Strassfield rewarded "The Sky's The Limit," by Elizabeth Nehls, with first place. Linda Capello's "Dressing" (pastel) won second place, and Deb Craven earned third place with "Motion #4 Great Dane (digital photograph).

The "Body in Motion," said Executive Director Pat Snyder, will be shown in concert with other events over the upcoming month. Concepts include a display of locomotives trains in motion in the EEAC Carriage House, a free yoga class held by Peconic River Yoga Studio, and dance classes. The "Body in Motion" exhibit will remain on display until April 9, followed by the opening of
"Botanicals" on April 23.

For additional information, visit the website at www.eastendarts.org.

The "Body in Motion" will be held in concert with other events over the upcoming month, including a yoga class, dancing classes, and a locomotive train set on display at the EEAC Carriage House.