
There are plenty of interesting and worthy gallery exhibitions across Maine this fall. These five caught our attention.
Jon Imber Retrospective, Cove Street Arts, 71 Cove St., Portland. Jon Imber, who died in 2014 from ALS, painted across many styles. He was a figurative painter, a landscape painter and, above all, an abstract painter. Cove Street is showing paintings that demonstrate his approach and dexterity with all of them. An expressive and confident painter, Imber lived in Stonington and Somerville, Massachusetts, and taught at Harvard and Rhode Island School of Design. On view through Oct. 10.

Scott Kelley, “Hold Fast,” Dowling Walsh, 365 Main St., Rockland. The Peaks Island painter takes a pandemic-induced departure with this body of work, which draws its name from a nautical term suggesting hanging on tight to avoid getting pitched overboard. He started this series at the outset of the pandemic, and explains: “This was only supposed to be a couple of paintings, but things kind of got carried away. Plus, with the pandemic, all my research for other projects came to a screeching halt, so I was left to paint what I had around the studio … in this case, rope.” On view through Sept. 26.

“Seaweed Sensibilities,” George Marshall Store Gallery, 140 Lindsay Road, York. This unusual exhibition includes new work made from and inspired by seaweed, and brings together three established Maine artists: Celeste Roberge, Marjorie Moore and Ron Leax. Their art demonstrates the range of possibilities of seaweed. Moore offers detailed drawings of kelp and algae. Leax is showing mixed-media work that incorporates dried seaweed, and Roberge is showing sculpture from her “Rising Sea(sonal) Collection” of wet suits, water shoes and swimming gear, all made with seaweed. On view though Sept. 6.

Ian Trask, “unEarth,” Common Street Arts, 10 Water St., Suite 106, Waterville. Topsham artist Ian Trask continues his exploration of climate change through this large-scale installation created from consumer waste. Trask makes individual spores of various dimensions from commonly discarded items that he salvages locally. In “unEarth,” he hangs those spores by the dozen, creating collectively a large-scale, 360-degree suspended orb that suggests a colorful, circular earth bound for an uncertain future. On view through Dec. 31.

Tom Curry, “Surrounded by Water,” Gleason Fine Art, 31 Townsend Ave., Boothbay Harbor. Brooklin painter Tom Curry lives by the water and for 22 years has painted the landscape around his home, including Chatto Island, a small island just offshore. It has become a constant and loyal subject, as Curry, a plein air painter, explores the ever-changing interplay of light, sky and water. In “Eventide,” he captures the island in the many moods of twilight, while “Morning Glow” shows the island in a lime-green shine against the brilliant blue of sky and sea. On view through Sept. 8.
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