Scenes of Middletown: Janine Janaki and Ed Friedman at Russell Library this March

Paintings by Janine Janaki are displayed with photos by
Ed Friedman in the new exhibit at Russell Library.

The new exhibit at Russell Library is a wonderful collaboration between two local artists.

Painter Janine Janaki's work is colorful and vibrant, at once abstract and realistic, and always engaging. She works in minute detail, but then steps back, “surprised to see the world, larger than life.” Janine recently was honored with the Arts Advocacy Award by the City of Middletown.

Photographer Ed Friedman states, “To be alive on this planet is a gift; all one needs to do is frame the experience.” After retiring in 2012 from teaching music, long-time Middletown resident Edward Friedman began taking photographs, some pretty and some gritty, of both the natural and the constructed elegance he encountered as he wandered throughout Middletown’s North End.

The two worked together to develop the new exhibit at Russell Library this March. Their work blends well: photographs resonate the shapes and textures of the paintings, and paintings help to enliven the colors and shapes of the photographs. Each artist's work is captivating on its own. However, by interspersing the photographs with the paintings (or vice versa) they augment one another in a beautiful blending of images. 

All of the images are of Middletown: Janaki's work brings to life iconic scenes, businesses and people that will be familiar to the regular visitor to the city. Friedman's photos capture North End scenes -- some familiar, some secreted away, under highways or along unused pathways. Both integrate Middletown's vast variety of life and work in one space.

The exhibit runs through the month of March. In April, the Art Guild of Middletown will present an exhibit from their members.