Bowery Gallery, NYC is pleased to announce that several member-artists are participating in the exhibit, “Flower as Metaphor” organized by Zeuxis, an association of Still life painters. The current venue for this traveling show is Wiegand Gallery, Notre Dame de Namur University, January 25, 2017 – February 25, 2017.
The Bowery Artists featured in this blog are Temma Bell, Rita Baragona, Ian Tornay, and Richard La Presti.
One does not need to dig very deep to understand the motivation behind a still life painting. Stanley Lewis, the painter and highly regarded teacher wrote this:
“The greatness of jazz is making so much perfection and beauty from a relatively simple song. With landscapes, the perfection is there already. Then you try to come up with a recognizable tune. My brief encounters with John Cage in college gave me the idea that everything in my sight is good and helpful – accept everything”.
This writer feels that Still Life paintings have much of the perfection and beauty, and come from a similar source that Lewis speaks about . The painting begins with the looking and seeing…
Here are some of the works by Bowery artists that are being featured in the Zeuxis show entitled, “Flowers As Metaphor”.
Temma Bell, “The Bouquet That Vala Gave Ulla” 16 x 20 inches, oil on linen
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Temma Bell, ” Variations on a Theme : Windowscape : Daughters II: Melkorka “
oil on linen, 36 x 24 inches,
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Rita Baragona, Yellow to Magenta Primrose, oil on paper, 14 x 15 inches
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Rita Baragona, Purple Primrose, acrylic on paper, 7 3/4 x 5 3/4 inches
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Ian Tornay, Still Life Past and Present, oil on canvas, 28 x 24 inches
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Ian Tornay, Apples and Pears, oil on canvas, 24 x 28 inches
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Richard La Presti, “Bellflower 1” acrylic on canvas, 24 X 36 inches
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” The question is not what you look at-but how you look & whether you see.”
Henry David Thoreau, Journal, August 5, 1851
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Zeuxis is a grassroots organization formed in New York City in 1995 to explore the contemporary possibilities of still life painting. To date Zeuxis has organized over 50 exhibitions in museums, commercial galleries and other exhibition spaces. Reviews of Zeuxis exhibitions have appeared in The New York Times, The New York Sun, The Philadelphia Inquirer and numerous other publications. For more information, call (212)924-6153 or visit the Zeuxis website at www.zeuxis.us.
Current Venue:
Wiegand Gallery
Notre Dame de Namur University
1500 Ralston Avenue, Belmont, CA 94002
January 25, 2017 – February 25, 2017
Opening Reception & Talk with Deborah Kirklin and Stephanie Sanchez:Thursday, February 9, 4-6 pm
Gallery Hours:
Wednesday – Saturday, 12 pm – 4 pm
(650) 508-3595
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2016 Venues:
Robert F. Agrella Art Gallery –Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, CA
Hendrix College, Conway, AR .
For an educational tour of the genre of Still life and the origin story of Zeuxis, check out this cool web site: ( scroll down to “what is Still lIfe”)
**DIANE DRESCHER
