Still enjoying the success of his Wingdale Psychiatric Center photography show at The White Gallery in Lakeville, CT, Avery Danziger juried a large and diverse photography exhibition, Exposures 2013, which opened last Friday at the West Hartford Art League. It is a large show of 77 images winnowed from more than double that number of entries. Right off the bat, you see Danziger’s aesthetic judgment. The first picture in the show, “Chevrolet” by Mallorie Ostrowitz, is a close-up of green and orange oxidized parts of an old car, reminiscent in color and texture of some of Danziger’s Wingdale shots. A Robert Thomas photo of Grand Central Station, “Ghostly Terminus,” with its blurry figures and faces of commuters reminded me of a David Dunlop painting from an exhibition at the White in 2011. Some of the pictures are technically interesting, others are notable for subjects presented simply. Kathryn Frederick’s “Sophia” shows an enormous constrictor held by two men. It is both calm and terrifying. Andre Stabnick’s digital color image of “Multnomah Falls” gives the Oregon landmark drama and power in bright, sparkling light. Paul Osgood’s close-up, “Reflections of Gehry at MIT #2,” catches the singular coloration and shape of the wildly improvised-looking, angular, colorful Stata Science Center at MIT. Compass editor Marsden Epworth’s black-and-white image is controlled, like the dancers and instructor she has caught in “Buglisi Dance Theater Class.” It’s as though her camera is the mirror that dancers watch to check their body positions. Best in Show was awarded to Erin Menatian, whose three technically accomplished black-and-white images include a wonderful shot of a carnival loop-the-loop ride. Molly Norton’s second place work is entirely self-conscious: a three-sided box made of old window frames with images of the photographer replacing many of the window panes. The photos are anguished and, I suppose, have something to do with seeking some kind offreedom. Liz Calvi’s third-place photos were taken on an island or in a warm-weather country on an ocean. They are colorful and catch active people or gorgeous landscape. Stanley Fellman, who won fourth place, entered technically perfect images of the Jersey City waterfront from Manhattan and a marvelous shot of a 25th Street intersection taken from Manhattan’s High Line Park, with a sailor “dipping” a girl as they dance in a large mural on the side of a building in the frame. Exposures 2013 is at The West Hartford Art League through Jan. 27. The gallery is at 37 Buena Vista Road, West Hartford. It is open Thursday - Sunday, 1-4 p.m. Call 860-231-8019, or go to www.westhartfordart.org.
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Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
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Fricke and Boehmer are not there to stock their shelves with the same products customers find at standard makeup retailers. They’re there to help customers find what works for them. That usually means asking customers about themselves and learning about their beauty habits, skin, style and the way they like to present themselves. Fricke and Boehmer believe it’s their job to help customers bring out the qualities that suit them and determine what works best for their look.
So much of the Peggy Mercury world is about emboldening people to become more creative, and possibly bolder, versions of themselves. Some of this comes through the store’s creative collaborations with artists, designers and stylists.
It’s part of an ethos that encourages them and their friends to use the shop as a kind of laboratory, trying out new creative experiments without knowing how they might turn out. Whether in fashion, painting, fiber arts or photography, the projects almost always turn out marvelously.
A line of sterling silver charms they sell started as a small project by their friend Nolan Percival. In the beginning, the pieces were for close friends and loved ones. But Boehmer and Fricke encouraged Percival to get a little more serious about the project and create a whole line for the store. Today, it’s one of their top-selling collections.
Classic styles, bold colors, and creative concerts make up the “Imaginary Concerts” line at Peggy Mercury.Provided
“Imaginary Concerts” has the duo taking their own advice.
The project started as a way for Boehmer to connect with his mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking old concert shirts from his own collection, Boehmer and his mother began cutting out the graphics with the idea that they would make a quilt together. Unfortunately, she died before they could complete the project in 2025. The pieces, which were ready for production, were put on the back burner as Boehmer and Fricke dealt with their loss and the whirlwind of projects that never seemed to cease at Peggy Mercury.
But the harsh winter of 2026 presented an opportunity to take some time and focus on themselves. Part of that meant revisiting and redefining the concert T-shirt project. This time, instead of looking to the warmth and comfort of a quilt, they turned to another passion — fashion.
Taking a page from their own book, they wanted to create something that felt comfortable to them. They took two disparate loves — one rooted in simple preppy style, with clean lines and classic silhouettes, and the other in the nitty gritty worlds of punk rock and pop — and blended them together to create something entirely new. Pulling from the staples of vintage Brooks Brothers and Charvet collections, they applied the graphic elements with bold stitching reminiscent of punk jackets of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with a much more sophisticated air.
But the remixing isn’t just the pairing of prep and punk. The pieces are not canon. They take liberties with the realities of concert tours, combining one band’s dates with another band’s logos, mixing them all up until the reality is lost and imagination is the only truth.
Shirts from Peggy Mercury’s first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” hang on display.Provided
Adding to the mix is an element of perpetual creativity. Art can be messy, both figuratively and literally, and many of Fricke and Boehmer’s artist friends carry evidence of their work on them at all times. As a nod to these tireless creatives, the duo added haphazard splashes of bright color, giving the line an even more distinctive feel.
For them, “Imaginary Concerts” passes the “Peggy Test.” The mythical Peggy Mercury is a fictional figurehead for the company, a character who thrives on creativity and change. The name, much like the clothing line, is a mixture of interests: Mercury is a planet, a deity and an elusive, transformative element, while Peggy is the wonderfully stylish and boundary-pushing Peggy Guggenheim.
Everything Fricke and Boehmer put in their store has to pass this test: Would Peggy Mercury approve? For their first collection, the answer is a resounding yes.
Peggy Mercury is at 9 Maple St., Unit 2, Kent.
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