The Beat Goes On At City Gallery

It’s not your typical beach photograph. For starters, you can’t see the beach. All you see is a wash of blue sky — and then, below, a jagged white fence, but abstracted just enough that it takes the eye a minute to see it for what it is. Tom Peterson’s Beach II is more like a painting than a photograph, and that’s part of the point.

In his artist statement, Peterson writes that he has ​“recently explored photographing multiple series of minimalistic images to create short journeys into inner spaces of peace and tranquility.” In the case of his beach series, it works like a charm — especially if you’re someone who likes going to the beach. Peterson’s photographs emphasize that much of the allure of a beach is that, while it’s an infinitely complex system, overall it’s also very simple. It’s sand, sea, and sky, a near-perfect landscape if you’re looking to clarify your thoughts.

Peterson is one of four artists with work in ​“Four Beats,” now on view at City Gallery on Upper State Street through July 28. Peterson and fellow artists Phyllis Crowley, Sheila Kaczmarek, and Kathy Kane all share an affinity for creating art that exists somewhere between realistic and abstract, with satisfying results.

Of the four, Kaczmarek makes sculptures that are perhaps closest to the realistic end of the spectrum. She writes that she ​“finds her inspiration from marine creatures and other forms of nature.” The proximity to Peterson’s beach images helps the viewer get there faster. Even without the artist statement, the sculptures are recognizable as anemones, or coral, or other undersea organisms. But the sculptures aren’t complete replicas, and in their abstraction — and the fact that they’re vertical on a gallery wall, not horizontal on the ocean floor — they remind us how strange sea life can be, how unlike anything we see on land.

Kathy Kane’s work heads toward greater abstraction. ​“I spend considerable time contemplating my marks, their placement and the colors I choose,” she writes. ​“Sometimes I work on my iPad ​‘designing’ their placement, and I also make little paintings and drawings. However, when I approach the canvas all preconceived ideas are not in my consciousness, the painting is spontaneous.” That spontaneity comes through in the pieces at City Gallery. They’re full of bold lines and overlapping shapes, on one level a celebration of paint and the act of painting. But it matters that she titles them concretely. Calling the image Taxi turns the rush of paint into the rush of traffic and headlights, and the rush of excitement one feels visiting a new city.

Phyllis Crowley clearly articulates what she’s after in her images, and her statement has a way of pulling the show together. ​“I am not attempting to simply represent what I see; I prefer to encourage participation from the viewer,” she writes. ​“I use methods like format, multiple images, abstraction, and change of focus to create new relationships that bring me closer to the original emotional experience.” Her evocative images do draw the viewer in. Whether Night Lights are fireflies or distant lights on a hillside or something else altogether, they conjure memories — in the context of the other artists’ work, perhaps of summer nights, or faraway cities — that can give viewers their own emotional experiences.

“Four Beats” runs at City Gallery, 994 State St., through July 28. For hours and more information, visit the gallery’s website.