Painting in the Gardens
"Botanical Painting," the first in a series of workshops taught by Barbara Thomas, is set for Friday, April 21, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton.
Participants will first pick branch forms and early seasonal buds and blooms, and then paint them in the studio. The focus will be on traditional methods of botanical painting: looking closely at plant parts and forms, mixing color, brush strokes, and how to "lay in" the work.
The class is open to both beginners and experienced painters; all students are expected to bring their own materials. The fee is $75.
Subsequent botanical painting classes will focus on spring flowers and plants, a five-session plein-air workshop in the LongHouse gardens, and two Friday evening outdoor sessions.
Tapestries and Paintings
Two exhibitions, "Reclaimed: The Oracles and Archetypes of Amy Zerner," and "Paintings' Paradox," will be on view at MM Fine Art in Southampton from Saturday through April 30.
"Reclaimed" includes large mixed-media collage tapestries as well as a selection of original artwork from Ms. Zerner's Oracle books and card sets, which she creates with her husband, Monte Farber. The artist will speak and sign books on Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m.
"Paintings' Paradox" suggests that while the picture plane is considered two-dimensional, paintings can be made not only from paint and canvas but also stretchers, wooden balls, glitter, gold leaf, nails, hair, and more. Participating artists include Darlene Charneco, Audrey Flack, Dan Rizzie, John Torreano, and David Slater, among others.
A reception for both shows will be held on April 22 from 6 to 8 p.m.
Surreal Double Play
"Endangered Species," a show of paintings by Lori Campbell and Peter Ngo, is at the Lucore Art Gallery in Montauk through April 25. A reception will be held on Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m.
Ms. Campbell, who lives in Montauk, is an unabashed surrealist who creates large-scale portraits that are part human, part familiar objects, part pure invention, all playfully rendered with bright colors. For example, her "Lady in the Orange Chair With Balls" is not a lady at all, but a comfortably ensconced, furry-looking, carrot.
Surrealism also characterizes the work of Mr. Ngo, an East Hampton native. In "No Where to Hide," a woman runs beneath an ominous sky through a land-based wind farm, trying to flee a light-emitting U.F.O.
A portion of proceeds from the exhibition will benefit Montauk Community Gardens.
A Brooklyn Outpost
East Hampton's Halsey McKay Gallery has announced HMGP, a new private exhibition space located at 60 Greenpoint Avenue in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The site will be used for gallery programming, community events, and meetings with clients.
Its first exhibition, "Daybreak," includes three new paintings by Matt Kenny. The works experiment with character and caricature in the context of the artist's urban realism, recasting the World Trade Center's Freedom Tower as a grotesque, ambiguous monster that offers a rejoinder to the overdeveloped landscape of post-9/11 New York.
The space will open with a reception on Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m. It can be accessed thereafter by appointment, via [email protected].
Dan Welden in Riverhead
The master printmaker Dan Welden will be at East End Arts in Riverhead on Friday at 5:30 p.m. to conduct a printmaking demonstration. The inventor of Solarplate printmaking, Mr. Welden has been in the forefront of freeing the printing process from potentially dangerous acids and chemicals.
The demonstration is being held in conjunction with the venue's current exhibition, "Regeneration," which features works by Ted Thirlby, who began working with Mr. Welden in 2021 to evolve his plywood art into monoprints.
The event is free; a $5 donation has been suggested.
