The Art Scene: 04.27.17
Montauk in the ’50s
The watercolors of Kenneth Bonar Walsh Jr., a commercial artist from New York who found his muse in Montauk will be on view at the Amagansett Library beginning Wednesday with a reception at 6 p.m.
Mr. Walsh, who died in 1980, moved to Montauk in the 1950s and built a house in Hither Hills. He also started the Bonart Gallery, initially at Gosman’s Dock. He captured in his paintings the natural beauty that marks the South Fork. The show will be on view through May 28. Another exhibition will open at the Woodbine Gallery in Montauk on May 27.
Pollock-Krasner House to Reopen
The Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center in Springs will reopen next Thursday with “East End Art World, August 1953: Photographs by Tony Vaccaro.” The exhibition will continue through July 29.
In August 1953, Look magazine sent Mr. Vaccaro to East Hampton to photograph Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner for a feature article that never ran. The negatives, which also include photographs of Fairfield Porter, Larry Rivers, Elaine and Willem de Kooning, and Wilfrid Zogbaum, were only discovered 60 years later.
By 1953, Mr. Vaccaro was already established as a photojournalist who, as an infantryman in World War II, had taken more than 8,000 photographs. He subsequently freelanced for Flair, Look, Life, Venture, Harper’s Bazaar, Town and Country, Quick, Newsweek, and many other publications, photographing kings, queens, presidents, popes, writers, actors, and scientists as well as artists.
The exhibition will feature 20 images, including a previously unknown color portrait of Pollock.
Crush Curatorial Back in Gansett
Crush Curatorial will return to its Amagansett space after a winter hiatus with “Alt-Egos,” a group exhibition organized by Scott Bluedorn. The show will open with a reception tomorrow from 6 to 9 p.m. and close with another reception on May 6, also 6 to 9. Otherwise the gallery will be open by appointment through [email protected].
The premise of the exhibition, according to Mr. Bluedorn, “is to illustrate work by artists that is wholly different from that by which they are known in the public eye.” Among the more than 40 participating artists are Andrea Cote, Karen Hesse Flatow, Perry Burns, Lucy Winton, Philippe Cheng, Peter Dayton, Rossa Cole, Christine Sciulli, Steve Miller, Bryan Hunt, and Mr. Bluedorn.
New at Roman Fine Art
“Deceptive Spaces,” a solo show of new paintings by Sarah Slappey, will open at Roman Fine Art in East Hampton tomorrow night with a reception from 7 to 9, and remain on view through May 21.
Ms. Slappey’s painting style has roots in the Southern Gothic aesthetic — Bible Belt superstitions, ghost stories, swamp lore, and mysticism. Each of the paintings depicts an imaginary space that combines carefully rendered images with abstract components that undercut the illusionism. Many of the interior paintings contain paintings-within-paintings, with references to Boucher, Fragonard, and other masters.
Dennis Lawrence at Elizabeth Dow
Elizabeth Dow Home on Gingerbread Lane in East Hampton is presenting “Meditations,” a show of paintings by Dennis Lawrence, through June 6. A reception will be held on May 6 from 5 to 7 p.m.
Mr. Lawrence, who has lived in Springs since 1970, began his career as a sculptor, but since 1989 he has concentrated primarily on painting, with his feeling for East End landscapes, seascapes, and natural light transformed into abstract compositions that reflect his touch for color and line.
14 Photographers
An exhibition of work by 14 East End photographers will be held at Ashawagh Hall in Springs on Saturday and Sunday. A reception will take place Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m.
Participating photographers are Nina Bataller, Fred Bertrand, Marilyn DiCarlo-Ames, Davis Gaffga, Dave Gilmore, Dennis Maroulas, Bruce Milne, Joe O’Haire, Sandy Peabody, Joan Santos, Lou Spitalnik, Fred VenderWerven, Alex Vignoli, and Denis Wolf.
Spring Flowers
At Romany Kramoris
Romany Kramoris Gallery in Sag Harbor is presenting its annual Spring Flower Show from today through May 25, with a reception scheduled for Saturday from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The exhibition features a variety of styles ranging from realism to impressionism.
Featured artists include Liz Gribin, Joyce Brian, Joan Tripp, Barbara Groot, Muriel Hanson Falborn, Hazel Shearer Thomas Gray, Ghilia Lipman-Wulf, Pingree Louchheim, Veronica Mezzina, Richard Udice, Lois Bender, and Ms. Kramoris.
Art and Aromatherapy
“What Lies Within Us,” an exhibition of photographs by Asia Lee that will be accompanied by aromatherapy and specially composed music, is on view at the White Room Gallery in Bridgehampton from tomorrow through Wednesday, with a reception set for Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m.
According to the gallery, Ms. Lee hopes her art will help transform our culture and society while reconnecting us with nature. A percentage of art sales from the exhibition will be donated to the Retreat.
New at Harper’s Apartment
Harper’s Apartment, the Manhattan outpost of Harper’s Books in East Hampton, will present “Violet Paintings for the Red and Blue Studio,” an exhibition of work by the Los Angeles artist Spencer Lewis, from Tuesday through June 24. A reception will be held on Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m.
Using raw pigment, oil, acrylic, enamel, and spray paint, Mr. Lewis creates aggressive impasto paintings on large cardboard substrates that elevate the utilitarian material, according to the gallery.
Cindy Sherman in Manhattan
“Cindy Sherman: Once Upon a Time, 1981-2011,” is on view at the Mnuchin Gallery in Manhattan through June 10. The exhibition features more than two dozen works drawn from three of the artist’s most acclaimed series: “Centerfolds,” “History Portraits,” and “Society Portraits.”
Since the debut of her “Untitled Film Stills” in 1978, Ms. Sherman, who has a house in Springs, has played the role of both photographer and subject. Her work explores the nature of representation and the ways in which the images of film, television, and advertising have influenced our understanding of identity and the world.
Protecting the Environment
“Sea Something, Save Something,” a group show aiming to raise awareness about protecting the marine environment, will open at Castello di Borghese Vineyard and Winery in Cutchogue with a reception Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. and continue through June 1.
The show, a benefit for the Cornell Cooperative Extension Marine Program, includes works by Scott Bluedorn, Dalton Portella, Peter Spacek, Dan Welden, Michele Dragonetti, Emma Ballou, Candace Ceslow, and Rossa Cole, among others.
Bruce Lieberman in Setauket
An exhibition of recent work by Bruce Lieberman will be on view at Gallery North in Setauket from Saturday through May 26. A reception will be held Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m.
Mr. Lieberman, who has had a studio in Water Mill since 1990, is a painter of figures, landscapes, seascapes, and other subjects. He has characterized his work as “a conversation with contemporary art that fits my brand of representational painting.”