Art is not the only medium displayedin the lavender colored house at 140 Elmwood Ave.
Coming Home Buffalo Center for Holistics and Arts is an art gallery that strives to make both artists and viewers feel at home, as art displayed is explored and appreciated.
Venture deeper and one may find a massage table in a quiet and tranquil room. Hypnotism sessions are also offered. According to Jeffrey Cudmore, an artist who helps Toni Meldzuk with the gallery, massages and hypnotism are just part of the holistic experience.
"It's healing, combined with the arts," Cudmore said.
The homelike gallery recently opened in June, with Meldzuk at the helm.
"We wanted a place where everyone can express themselves," Meldzuk said.
The gallery currently plays host to art by John Farallo, Samantha Ryan and Melissa Luciano. These artists were part of the Buffalo Infringement Festival, a summer festival where art was showcased in Buffalo's Allentown district.
Farallo's exhibit Beauty, Bliss, Madness is displayed in a back room where several couches are strategically placed. The pieces fit this comfortable area with stationary caricatures poised on couches and armchairs. These vibrantly colored, bold strokes of women in cartoon form show the beautiful element in females as they embrace gratifying objects. Small animals, food and alcohol can be seen alongside these ladies who have been painted into a blissful state.
"His style resembles pop art and seems to explore themes of objectification and idealization of women in our culture," said Erin Kruppner, a junior art history major.
Ryan's art flawlessly complements Farallo's. In a separate space, her exhibit, Inspiration, involves painted figures of all shapes and sizes with pulsating colors. This is Ryan's first time showcasing her art after sustaining an injury.
"Creating this collection saved my sanity," Ryan said of her artwork on the Buffalo Infringement site.
The figures in her pieces suggestively allude to some greater glorification, and they are stirring to behold.
Adding to these visual works are photographs by Luciano titled "from the heart of Melissa," whose photography 'muses' are collected over the years at garage sales and thrift stores. The most eye-catching piece is an old doll, which hangs behind the counter.
Adorned in a dress made of tissue paper, held tight by yellowed tape with bobby pins stuck into the doll's heels, the frame that carries the picture is made out of an old mirrored tray glued to some plastic linings.
"I think her work is interesting because she only uses recycled goods and all her photographs are not photoshopped at all," Meldzuk said.
The old doll was a child's former playmate and embodies plenty of history.
"Each piece that she does has a lot behind it. She's trying to show something," Meldzuk said.
More exhibitions are on the way. On Sept. 7, Dario Mohr's tarot card art will be featured. The gallery is open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 11 a.m. till 7 p.m.
Email: arts@ubspectrum.com
