David James Valyou’s show at Sharon’s Hotchkiss Library comes into focus with extended viewing. His work is varied in medium, style and subject, and much of it requires looking until a click of recognition occurs. Suddenly you understand. Valyou is a fascinating artist, both serious and whimsical in various pieces, and much of his best work is traditional, even if it is painted on found wood and includes objects that inform both subject and shape. Take a tiny landscape study done in oil on panel. The sky, clouds and land are pure Impressionism in grays and greens. Close by are two constructions centered on panels painted in roiling color that suggest small fishing boats in water: One includes a wooden dowel and fishing weight; the other, two dowels at angles and two holes in the panel, perhaps the eyes of the big fish you feel lies under the water. Then there are the two thick wood panels painted in vaguely Oriental style that may be maps of some imagined land and water. One has pieces, perhaps from a geographical jigsaw puzzle, glued on top. The other, looking very Japanese, has lovely, fragile green vines painted on the “map” that includes landlocked bodies of water. In the mid-2000s Valyou began to paint ghostly pictures that recall Goya and Velasquez. Women with skulls for heads are painted and drawn in pencil, costumed in severe court dress and rendered in pale greens and ivory. They can remind you of the central princess in “Las Meninas.” Earlier, in the 1990s, Valyou produced some fascinating work in ink on paper. Using many thousands of small black rectangles and swirls, he made flat images of surreal, fantastical scenes — people and objects in midair or unnatural positions — that had a bit of Steinberg in their flat, rounded faces always in profile. Both “Let Go!” and “Piano Man” are terrific, while “Death of a Scarecrow” calls up associations with witchcraft. Finally, there are Valyou’s excursions into whimsical made objects and pieces. A slice of birthday cake is made from pieces of a worn teddy bear whose ear and eye can be seen — rather pitifully — on the side. In another, a tiny hammer lies on top of a matchbox-size toolbox, while a home sweet home sampler lies in front waiting to be hung. And on top of a little golden globe, a small, shiny black bear sits atop the world. One might say Valyou is too varied, but he is a real artist, and he is never boring. The David James Valyou show continues at The Hotchkiss Library of Sharon, through March 31. For hours call 860-364-5041 or go to www.hotchkisslibrary.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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