The Wailoa Center and the Hawaii Island Art Alliance will be kicking off 2024 with the opening of multiple exhibits from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday at the center.
In the Main Gallery will be “Plein Aire Perspectives,” a juried exhibition of 36 plein air artists from Hawaii Island.
On display in the Fountain Gallery is “Downtown Hilo … A Continuing Series,” a selection of photographs by Norman Negre. Both exhibits will be on display Friday through to Jan, 25. The opening night also will recognize the inaugural installations in the Sculpture Garden, with works from Lonny Tomono and Kamran Samimi. There will be live music from Ryan Coad and cold drinks provided by HIAA.
The exhibits are linked through their exploration and honoring of place.
In “Plein Aire Perspectives,” artists capture a moment in time through outdoor painting. Juror Robert Weiss looked “at the drawing, composition, design and color, but most of all … (for) work that communicates a sense of place, of time and light.”
In “Downtown Hilo,” Negre, captures the quiet moments of downtown Hilo through time, his photographic media changing with the technology. From Waianuenue to Ponahawai, Kapiolani to Bayfront Highway, Negre provides an intimate portrait of downtown Hilo from the 1970s to the present.
Sculpture Garden artists Samimi and Tomono honor place by respecting the integrity of the media for their sculptures — found basalt rocks from Hawaii Island.
As Samimi describes in his process, “Each of the sculptures is composed from a single stone, split according to cracks found on its surface. This process … is a means of honoring its turbulent journey through time.”
Admission is free and open to the public during the exhibit, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For additional information please call (808) 933-0416.