Small Works @ Arcadia Gallery

 The Small Works Exhibition at Arcadia Gallery kicks off this gallery's fall season.  On display are small paintings, drawings and ...not so small sculptures.  Of the many paintings I saw there I want to highlight a few of my favorites, starting with Rob Liberace's small nudes, on copper.  Maybe the camera lens can't quite capture the shine of the copper, but it is truly delightful, especially in the enigmatic, warm, form and cast shadows.  Here is a photo to exemplify.

  Another small painting I would like to highlight is Ron Hick's "Young Brunette", seen below.  The expressive handling of the paint, and its simple design make this an approachable and beautiful painting.

  The two small portraits by Joseph Todorovitch are also a good example of direct painting, see "Sunlit Portrait" below as an example.  The application of paint is very thin in most places, but built up in lighted areas of the face.  This, coupled with very soft edges, and pastel colors, give the painting an overall radiance and softness that make it warm and inviting to the eye.

  Below are a few more pictures from the exhibition.  Note the sculptures, they belong to Gary Weisman who will have a show in October at Arcadia, together with Cecila Miguez.  I'll be sure to post some comments about it then.

Kerry Brooks Drawings

Jeremy Lipking "Study for Larissa"

Daniel Sprick "Sea Bird"

Gary Weisman "Arrow"

View of the Gallery

New Exhibitions at the National Academy Museum & School

Will Barnet's show

   The newly renovated National Academy Museum is now open to the public.  The museum is located across from Central Park, near the Guggenheim museum, and around the corner from the National Academy School.  It is currently showing a selection from the museum's permanent collection, and the first New York retrospective of  Will Barnet's work.  Will Barnet is now 100 years old, and has been an artist for about 80 years! Hats off to him for such a prolific career in the arts.  He has been involved with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Student's League in NY, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and other art institutions, and has received numerous awards.  The exhibition focuses mainly on his abstract and contemporary work, however in one room, around the corner, I saw a small and beautiful representational piece.  This artist has explored a number of genres from figurative to abstract, and mediums, from graphic arts to printmaking and painting.  The main body of works in the show is heavenly influenced by graphic arts (posters came to my mind) and  are very strong on design and composition. 

J S Sargent "Self Portrait"

  Other works currently on display are paintings from the permanent collection, including a self portrait by Sargent, and a figure painting by William Merritt Chase.  Most of these paintings are displayed 'salon' style, one on top of the other, and very close to each other.  Some of the paintings are hanging too high and are hard to see.

  The museum looks great, like an elegant mansion of the past, with all the amenities of the present.  However, I was a little disappointed with the quality and number of art works on display.  I expected more from a 4 floor museum that has been around for such a long time and has such a rich tradition.

Gallery in the museum

Sol Lewitt' Structures in City Hall Park

 

  Why should you stop by the City Hall Park soon? Because it is a beautiful park, nestled in between older, beautifully decorated buildings and new, contemporary high rises, and right now it too has the feel of past and present converging.  

  From May 24th to Dec 2nd the City Hall Park hosts an outdoor art show by artist Sol Lewitt (1965-2006).  The show is titled 'Structures' and it consists of about 15 modern sculptures scattered throughout the park. The artist was inspired by geometrical forms such as cubes and polygons and constructed multiple variations of them.  He is a pioneer in the use of seriality - “the creation of art through an objective chain of permutations."  

  While visually interesting and certainly rich in concept, I was interested in observing these sculptures in the environment.  In an otherwise old fashioned, delightful park, these statues seem more progressive then they would in a modern art museum for example.  However, because of their unifying white color, and strategic placement into the gardens, I don’t think they disturb the harmony of the park, even though they are relatively large in size.  The show echoes the overall surroundings in Downtown Manhattan and the visit to this park is truly refreshing!

 

Summer Potpourri Exhibition at Salamagundi Art Club

Anne Kullaf "Tea and Silver"

Last Saturday I went to the Salamagundi Art club to see their Summer Potpourri Exhibition.  There were around thirty or more works on display, a mish-mash of different mediums and genres.  The word "potpourri" is exactly the impression I got from it, and not in a good sense. Overall I was not at all impressed with the show. I did see some still lifes that interested me (see photos on the right), and some still lifes that were not very well finished/developed.  A couple portraits also were worth seeing, but in general this show does not impress by technical skill, concept, or originality of the artists.  However, in the building there are some good paintings, such as Richard Lithgow's Winter Rags (see picture on the left).  It is a club worth visiting for it's historical significance and heritage, and sometimes for better exhibitions.