Curated by artist and director Ellen Wineberg, “Paint and Poetry” is a collaborative show at Storefront Art Projects in Watertown, featuring the poems of Edison Dupree, and the abstract paintings of Pam Rajpal and James Kinny. Wineberg is skilled in organizing communities in the New England arts scene, knowing how to throw a small and intimate soirée of artists and writers. Wineberg described herself as a matchmaker in a past life.
The small space is elongated by the abstract art and concise, stanza poetry on the wall. At first glance, it may seem like Kinny’s work is on one side while Rajpal’s is on the opposing, but the paintings are in every corner and crevice of the space, including a painting of Rajpals in a back hallway entering Wineberg’s own studio space. In addition to the full-scale paintings, sketches from Rajpal and Kinny are displayed under their works, some tastefully hanging by binder clips.
James Kinny, “Ominous Time” (left), “No Underpants” (right) and exploratory drawings. Photographed by Isabel Barbi.
Kinny’s abstract paintings and sketches bring warmth, texture and wit to the space – with overarching colors of oranges, blues and greens. Kinny repurposes left-over canvas to add dimension to his pieces as well as incorporating burlap packed underneath layers of paint. At a point in group correspondence, paint was described as glue. “No Underpants,” 2023, oil on canvas, 20” x 16”, is a painted mosaic of weight and texture. The title also has a sort of poetic wit to it, perfect for the collection.
Several of the other paintings on display by Kinny, acknowledge time: “Ominous Time,” 2025, oil on canvas, 24” x 20”; “Slow Time,” 2025, oil on canvas, 24” x 18”; “Air and Time”, 2025, oil on canvas, 24” x 18” and others. Below the paintings are “Exploratory Drawings”, sketches, some dating back ten plus years, yet very reminiscent of the paintings on display which were completed in 2025. “Ominous Time” is particularly striking. Its curved lines with bobble-like square heads are reminiscent of a sand-worm or a funky, otherworldly crawler – it sneaks up on you.
Time – it brings us to the present and past conversations within Rajpal’s paintings. Rajpal’s paintings are the largest scale in the gallery, inviting the viewer to jump right into the social atmosphere that “Paint and Poetry” makes space for. Put thoughtfully in her artist statement: “Abstract forms feel true to me. They emerge from a deep internal place that demands a close conversation between head and heart, emotion and instinct.”
Her art is colorful, yet sometimes dark. The swirls in her paintings are never muddied and the spaces between are just as thoughtful as the paint on canvas. Some strokes are open-ended sentences and others invoke a hard-stop; urging the viewer, as well as the artist, to come back, complete and reflect for as long as needed and the painting allows.
“What Goes On,” 2024, acrylic on canvas, 24” x 30” is active. It’s a back and forth with the viewer and the artist. The lines and colors swirl, seldom repeating, unlike a painting like “Aftermath”, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 30” x 24” with its darker colors and more finality. “What Goes On” is inviting and hollow, with a pool of bright blue in its center. “Aftermath” is darker, concealed and buried. It requires breaking down the piece and digging for the answers after layers of thoughts. “Close conversations”, indeed.
Dupree’s poetry is printed on the wall in between the paintings. The poetry, broken down into a few tight stanzas, complements the paintings where a text-block or a single buzz-word may typically be placed. Like Rajpal and Kinny, Dupree’s poems are images. I chose to focus on the poem “Shaker,” which is a part of one of Dupree’s poetry collections “Boy With A Ball”.
Shaker
You’re right, the world is lost. But wait–
here on the table this pepper alone
until you shake it
is night and stars by the million,
your dream vacation in space–
all your body’s sad comedy suddenly weightless,
tumbling along, the way lost satellites do. Nowhere
they have to be . . .
And afterward, whatever the hand has earthquaked
up, that little gray storm
out there beyond the crook of the arm,
is yours. You wrecked it.
The poem reassures the reader; the poem brings the reader right back down. Dupree’s image of a contained table-spice, pepper, immediately brings a feeling much darker than spilt salt tossed over the shoulder. Instead of being left to chance, the reader is directly confronted. The reader has no choice but to respond.
These abstract paintings and thoughtful poems are demanding, in both time and reflection. They are pieces that you want to get to know. All of these strong feelings were accomplished and brought to fruition in a small space of poets, painters, directors, critics and friends, beneath the original crown molding of 83 Spring Street in Watertown, Massachusetts. Now that I know how easy it is to get to Watertown via the 57 bus, I look forward to the unique collaborations Storefront Art Projects will offer in the future.