Mid-Year Exhibition at the National Academy

My painting "Elliott 2" (acrylic on canvas, 30 x 40 inches) will be exhibited at the National Academy of Design through February 2, 2016.

The portrait combines grisaille and color applied in the expressionist manner, partly inspired by these paintings by Willem de Kooning, Frank Auerbach and Paul Wright.

The model Elliott Ortiz is a Venezuelan dancer and choreographer who is a resident artist at Art Space PS109, in New York City.

I hope that you can attend the opening reception tonight from 6:00-8:00 pm, or otherwise see the show if you are in the upper east side of Manhattan.

Mid-Year Exhibition
December 14, 2016 to February 2, 2017
National Academy of Design
5 East 89th Street
New York, NY

Louis Ebarb at Heights Cafe, Brooklyn

My friend Louis Ebarb is exhibiting some paintings at the Heights Cafe in Brooklyn Heights.

Louis was born in Brooklyn, studied at Pratt Institute, and paints scenes of daily life in Brooklyn in a realist style inspired by the Ashcan School.

Louis has exhibited at the Surmrit Gallery, Jersey City NJ, Fraga Gallery, New Orleans, LA, the Belanthi Gallery, Brooklyn NY, the Temple Gallery, Vails Gate, NY; the Brooklyn Waterfront Artist Coalition's Pier Shows I, II and III and the State University of New York's Victory Arts Gallery, Saint Francis College, Brooklyn, NY, The New York Mercantile Exchange, New York Law School and many other venues.

Here are a few of his oil paintings on display at the Heights Cafe.I do hope you can see this wonderful show if you are in the neighborhood.

John 5

I recently completed a portrait, John 5, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 40 inches.

I've painted John a few times before: 1, 2, 3, 4. This painting turned out to be fairly realistic with a limited palette, though I did explore glitch and pixelation during my process.

Here are some progress shots over four 3-hour sessions:

Dea 5

Here are some photos of Dea 5 installed in a collector's home in the Upper West Side, New York City. I have written about the painting previously, and it remains one of my favorite pieces.

Amiel Weisfogel

My friend Amiel Weisfogel is showing a selection of his paintings at Rex in Hell's Kitchen, 864 10th Avenue (between 56th and 57th Streets), New York City.

I hope you can drop by if you're in the neighborhood!

Crystal and Rosanna 2

I recently completed two paintings - Crystal and Rosanna 2 - both 30 x 30 inches, acrylic on canvas.

These paintings have a decidedly pop feel with bright primary colors. I'm not sure why I went in this direction - there is glitch, for sure, but the 70s vibe is new to me. Lately, I've been looking at Andy Warhol, Chuck Close, and Mickalene Thomas, so perhaps their hard-edged, and purely American, aesthetic made its way into these paintings.

Thanks for checking in and have a Happy 4th of July!

Crystal

Rosanna 2

Gerhard Richter

Here's a video and a few photos from Gerhard Richter's recent show at the Marian Goodman Gallery in New York City. 

Such a dazzling exhibit - I never thought that his abstractions would work so well on a smaller scale. The colors were incredible and would be a valuable reference for any artist.

New York Times review by Roberta Smith.