Peter Nishanian (left) discusses his work at the opening reception for his exhibit at The Gallery at Macon Arts Alliance on November 2 in Macon, Georgia. Photo by Jonathan Dye

Visual art and music have long been entwined in a love story fit for a television soap opera. Countless visual artists have drawn inspiration from the music of composers and song writers. Musicians, in turn, have been inspired by the work of the visually inclined. All types of music, from classical compositions to radio-friendly pop, have been created in the ongoing affair of these two not-so-disparate art forms. “Listen With Your Eyes,” an exhibition of two-dimensional and three-dimensional work by Peter Nishanian, currently on display at The Gallery at Macon Arts Alliance (a Knight Arts grantee), is an examination of the relationship between the auditory and the visual as forms of art.

Nishanian is a retired automotive designer who moved the to Macon from New York more than two decades ago. He is part of the collective of artists who work in the Contemporary Arts Exchange in downtown Macon and is well-known within the artistic community of the area and a regular at gallery openings. “Listen With Your Eyes” features several sculptures by Nishanian which are primarily non-objective constructions using made of wood and metal, often hand painted by the artist. The techniques he uses in his three-dimensional work seem to be the fodder for many of his two-dimensional creations.

As the exhibit’s title suggests, Nishanian is compelled by music and his work demonstrates his belief in a correspondence between the elements of art and of music. The titles of his paintings, such as “Tempo,” “Quintet,”Yellow Note,” and “Blue Note,” are evocative of music’s various elements and forms.

Detail of “Tempo” Oil on wood, Peter Nishanian, Photo by Heatherly Wakefield

“Tempo,” a painting featuring lines with node-like bulges oriented vertically with fields of gradient color between them is representative of Nishanian’s desire to translate music to a 2-dimensional surface. The regularly spaced bulges in the lines and the arrangement of the lines evoke the concept of rhythm, of a beat. The different colors of the fields reinforce this rhythmic quality with a melodic undertone. The bending of the lines, ever so slightly, then suddenly, representing a change in the music giving variation to the work.

“Quintet” Oil on wood, Peter Nishanian.

“Quintet” features Nishanian’s characteristic trompe de l’oeil which turns a flat surface into an arrangement of geometric shapes and gives his work a somewhat futuristic and metallic quality. As the name suggests, this painting is composed of five sections, working in harmony to create a single work of art. The artist has sculpted a painted surface with rigidity, while harkening to the structure of a musical group or an arrangement composed for such a group. The juxtaposition of the faux surfaces of stark geometry and the concept of a musical arrangement compels the viewer to search deeper into the aesthetic similarities of music and visual art.

Nishanian’s titles provide the viewer with a clue of where to start in trying to understand his work, but the burden lies solely in the audience’s willingness to engage. Nishanian uses color and texture to evoke melody. He uses line to create rhythm. He uses texture and shape to elicit harmony and timbre. He sees art and music as one, and with the title of this exhibit, he invites of us all to see the world as he sees it—by listening with our eyes.

The Gallery at Macon Arts Alliance: 486 First St., Macon; 478-743-6940; www.maconartsalliance.org.