The Art Scene: 05.18.17
Strictly Watercolors
“Water+Color+Works,” an exhibition of work by nine South Fork artists who share a fondness for the watercolor medium, will be on view at Ashawagh Hall in Springs tomorrow through Sunday. A reception will be held on Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m.
While most of the artists have cited nature as an inspiration, their paintings range from pure abstraction to more recognizable imagery, but in all cases color and shape take precedence over strict realism.
The participating artists are Kirsten Benfield, Johanna Caleca, Barbara DiLorenzo, Lesley Obrock, Kate Rabinowitz, Janet Rojas, Gerry Sacks, Jerry Schwabe, and Carol Craig Sigler. The gallery will be open Friday from 4 to 7 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday from 11 to 4.
New at Ille Arts
Ille Arts in Amagansett is presenting “Out of the Box,” a two-person exhibition of work by Deborah Buck and John Monti, from today through June 20. A reception will take place on May 27 from 5 to 8 p.m.
Ms. Buck, who lives in Sagaponack and New York City, will show 25 paintings from the past year. She has begun to combine Japanese Sumi ink with her layered compositions of acrylic, pastel, chalk, and glitter.
Mr. Monti will exhibit five sculptures from his “Flower Series,” which can be seen, in his words, “as fetishes born of nature and finish. These sculptures represent dense amalgams of vegetation. Twisting vines and floral forms of invention are cast in resin and coated with a high-gloss finish.”
Group Show at RJD
“No Boundaries,” a group exhibition at RJD Gallery in Bridgehampton, will open on Saturday with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. and remain on view through June 20.
Among the participating artists are Rich Garland, who creates dramatically lit images of vast, derelict industrial spaces; Jesse Lane, whose intense figures emerge from darkness into light, and Pamela Wilson, whose isolated characters seem enmeshed in mysterious narratives.
The show will also include work by Jack Gerber, Jules Arthur, Yana Movchan, Armando Valero, and Gabriel Moreno.
Two Realists at Grenning
Paintings by two classically trained realists, Carl Bretzke and John Morfis, are on view through June 4 at the Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor. Despite a large portfolio of landscapes and cityscapes, Mr. Bretske develops his work in the studio as well as outdoors. His nighttime landscapes, usually unpeopled, have a lonely, melancholy quality that recalls the work of Edward Hopper.
Much of Mr. Morfis’s work focuses with trompe l’oeil accuracy on single objects, among them fishing lures, tools, horseshoes, a gardening trowel, and oarlocks. His subjects reflect his growing up in a family of talented Long Island tradespeople.