Autumn Salon
October 22, 2023 ~ Opening Reception November 4, 2023
Conceptually similar to Traditional Landscape, Frank DePietro’s Lily and Lotus paintings are an attempt to capture time, through the changes of light and color displayed in the natural world. The subjects are portrayed representationally in a manner true to their existence, selected based on these visual considerations along with their inherent meaning and symbolism. In a sense, nature is treated as a still-life in his work. The paintings display a quiet, meditative quality. They are a contemplation of our connection to an ephemeral presence, changing notions of nature, as well as the emotional and intellectual bonds we cast upon it. “My intention is to capture a moment of existence within the cyclical element of life, blending colors into one another with paint, replicating the natural process of pigment moving in plants and trees from formation through decay. I want to give permanence to these moments, turning them into tangible objects.”- F. DePietro
Gallery Artist, Kevin Hebb is also using a similar process, in a more clearly abstracted manner. His new works, “Millie’s Flowers”, inspired by the birth of his first child, employ traditional photographs of flowers which he then blurs, abstracts and projects onto his canvas. He then painstaking draws a rough guide of the extremely abstracted works, and pours carefully selected colors from his signature palette onto the works from above. Because he can’t quite control the pouring process, the traditional flower “portrait” is further abstracted. The accumulation of paint, then also creates deep textures, which add an entirely new element to his traditionally refined and two dimensional works of the past.
Returning artist, Boston based, Percy Fortini-Wright, also blurs the line between traditional landscape in his masterful spray- painted deserted street scenes. Known for his large scale street art and murals, Fortini Wright paints these streetscapes at night, often after fishing through the evening. As it is dark, deserted and he is physically and mentally exhausted, the results are sublime, quiet and yet powerful landscapes.
Other featured artists are: Cindy Press, Donna Payton, Jill Ricci, Michael Johnson, Dave Morico, David Platt, George Bates, Robert Melee, Scott Troxel, Derek Gores, Human Wreckage and Jill Ricci