Three gravestones catch my eye. Each one has a single word printed across it. Brother. Mother. Father.
The stones are simple yet profound, which is why I stop. “When I die, will people sum me up with just one word?” I think to myself. This is a weighty thought for 1 p.m. on a Wednesday. I’m usually thinking about the Lean Cuisine waiting for me in the freezer.
You can find these particular stones at Blossom Hill Cemetery, but I saw them at the Carolyn Jenkins Gallery at the Kimball-Jenkins Estate. Or rather, I saw a photograph of them.
The aptly-named photo, “Mother, Brother, Father” is part of Scott Bulger’s “Kronikos” exhibit, a series of black and white 20-by-30-inch digital prints on display at the Carolyn Jenkins Gallery. The exhibit opened last Thursday, but Bulger allowed me to preview it a day early. Just call it a perk of being an Insider.
The 17-piece collection, which is part of his larger 52-image body of work, is a culmination of more than two years of photography. “The subjects are smaller parts of larger things,” said Bulger, who teaches art classes at Kimball-Jenkins. “I have always been fascinated by details. As a kid, I would stare at an anthill for hours.”
There are no anthills in Bulger’s collection, but there are a multitude of up-close shots examining artifacts of the local landscape that the average person may overlook. For example, one photograph portrays a statue of a Native American man in a headdress.
“Recognize that?” Bulger asked, looking amused. “It was taken downtown.”
I did get an eerie feeling of déjà-vu, but even now can’t pinpoint where I had seen the chief. But that’s Bulger’s point: Everyday we’re surrounded by art, but we’re too busy talking on our cell phones or checking our Facebook pages to know it.
Stroll through the exhibition and you’ll get that “hmm, haven’t I been here before?” sensation, too.
While his larger body of work includes a sprinkling of images from Maine and Massachusetts, the ones at the gallery were all taken in New Hampshire; 12 were shot within a five-mile radius of the estate.
“People don’t always see what is all around them,” Bulger said. “I record these images so I can show people what they are missing.”
“I subscribe to the theory that art is around you all the time.”
The opening reception is 7 to 11 p.m. on Friday at the Carolyn Jenkins Gallery at the Kimball-Jenkins Estate, 266 N. State St.
The reception will feature music from the Scott Solsky Quartet, a wine tasting from LaBelle Winery and food courtesy of Chef DJ Collise III.
The reception is free and open to the public. RSVPs are appreciated (e-mail info@brighteyescreative or call 879-0798). For more information, visit scottbulger.com.
