'Art in Architecture' Exhibit Opens Tuesday at Ocean City Arts Center

"Finding Art in Architecture" by Alexander Sharkey opens at the Ocean City Arts Center on Tuesday, Sept. 1. Alexander Sharkey's photographic series “Finding Art in Architecture” will be feature at the Ocean City Arts Center throughout September. Alexander Sharkey The solo art exhibition opens Tuesday and runs through Sept. 30. The public is invited to a free “Meet the Artist” reception will 7 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11. The event will include light refreshments and hors d'oeuvres (RSVP at event.asharkey.com). “Finding Art in Architecture” includes photographs that turn surroundings on edge and question the viewer’s perception. Abstracting shapes, lines, and colors from architecture transforms what seems concrete into something open for interpretation. There will be more than 10 pieces of new work, including one five-foot-wide image on metal. “I want the viewers to literally turn their heads and personally discover what they are perceiving. At first glance, it shouldn’t appear to be a building.” Sharkey's style encompasses moments in our natural surroundings where scenes are not staged and people are not directed. The color and lighting are what naturally occur and the finished piece of art stays true to the original moment. Sharkey limits the digital process to what is traditionally performed in a darkroom and refrains from digitally manipulating his imagery. His body of work focuses on the often-disregarded hidden beauties that surround us. While this is Sharkey’s first solo exhibit, his work can currently be found at the Holtzman Gallery at the Claridge Hotel in Atlantic City, as well as at the Law Offices of Cooper Levenson, where Sharkey was commissioned to permanently install more than 30 pieces of Atlantic City Photography. Alexander Sharkey, originally from North-East Philadelphia, attended Ithaca College for Film and Photography, and has now settled in Coastal Cape May County. The Ocean City Arts Center is located at 1735 Simpson Avenue. It is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Call  (609) 399-7628.