By Alexandra Pecci
Correspondent

If the word “furniture” conjures images of mass-produced, factory-made recliners, a trip to the Furniture as Art/Art as Furniture exhibition at the New Hampshire Art Association’s Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery in Portsmouth will change your mind.

The exhibition will showcase furniture created by the New Hampshire Furniture Masters that are paired with artwork by New Hampshire Art Association artist members.

According to Furniture Master and exhibitor Richard Oedel, the theme of the exhibition is about how artists working in different media can relate to each other, complementing and enhancing each other and offering more meaning than either piece would alone.

The exhibition also invites people to think of furniture as not merely functional, but also as art in its own right.

“Art is the result of what comes from an inspiration and a unique vision,” Oedel said. Those visions are on display in furniture that’s built using a range of styles and natural materials, everything from ebony, holly, and exotic wood to simple woods like maple, elm or birch. Many feature carved surfaces and other decorative elements, with styles ranging from traditional federal style to a very contemporary table by Furniture Master Terry Moore.

“That’s exactly what this is,” Oedel said. “It’s a journey through styles, it’s a journey through design, it’s a journey through materials.”

The exhibition is also an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the concentration of furniture craftspeople in the Granite State.

“It’s unusual that you’d have artists of this caliber together in this small geographic area. This is an amazing amount of talent. New Hampshire really is unique in that respect,” Oedel said. “There’s something about New Hampshire that tends to bring out these sorts of artists. And I think part of it’s also the New Hampshire Furniture Masters.”

In fact, he said, there are many people who have moved to New Hampshire just to associate themselves with people in the group.

The month-long exhibition is free to attend, and nearly all of the pieces in it are for sale, ranging in price from about $850 to $15,000, Oedel says.
Participating Furniture Masters are Ted Blachy, Aurelio Bolognesi, John Cameron, Jeffrey Cooper, David Leach, Wayne Marcoux, Terry Moore, Richard Oedel, Brian Reid, Brian L. Sargent, William Thomas, Peter Turner, Thom Walsh and Leah Woods. The New Hampshire Art Association artist members participating are Emma Ashby, Joanna Balcom, Martin Cannata, Debra Claffey, Joanna Doyle, Paul Glorioso, Bonnie Guerico Joan Harlow, Ethel Hills, Jane Kaufmann, Jim Kociuba, John Lacz, Claudia Michael, Erin Murray, Judy Totman, Paul Wainwright, Richard Widhu and David Zerba.

If you go:
What: Furniture as Art/Art as Furniture
Where: New Hampshire Art Association’s Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery, 136 State St., Portsmouth
When: May 5 through June 5; Opening reception Friday, May 7 from 5 to 8 p.m.
Cost: Free.
Hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.; the gallery is closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Learn more at www.nhartassociation.org/exhibitions