Anniversary exhibit at APeX

Shrewsbury artist Jimmy Leslie is one of three artists featured in a second anniversary exhibit that will open Saturday at APeX gallery in Asbury Park.

APeX, a play on the phrase "Asbury Park excitement," is located at 611 Cookman Ave. in the heart of the city's resurgent art, antiques, home design and dining district.

In addition to Leslie, works by Jody Thompson, of Asbury Park, and Mark Kolessar, of Freehold, are featured in the exhibit.

APeX has become known for an eclectic mix of contemporary art ranging from hyper-realism to abstraction in both traditional and nontraditional materials. Works in the current exhibit reflect that focus with the artists taking traditional styles and techniques of figurative and landscape painting, and imbuing them with a unique vision.

Leslie's landscapes are set in familiar territory, suburban Mon-mouth County, and capture moments of everyday life bringing extraordinary clarity to ordinary scenarios like waiting in the car to pick a child up after school or cruising for a parking space.

Thompson's portraits and figures are drawn from the contemporary world but are painted in the Renaissance technique of subtle transparent colored glazes. The result is of the figures emerging from dark space into momentary light. Kolessar's works are big, bold, resembling pop art portraits that appear to take apart and reassemble segments of the human figure.

The show also includes a variety of large and small works by 15 gallery artists, including owners Dennis Carroll, Carl Hower and Johnny Simanek, who opened the gallery after retiring from careers as public school art teachers. The exhibit will run through

Dec. 31.

APeX is open Wednesdays through Sundays with late hours Fridays and Saturdays until 8 p.m. For more information, visit www.apexgalleryasburypark.com