SUMMER
Leigh Palmer, Lependorf & Shire, Ken Polinskie and John Griebsch
July 11, 2013 through August 11, 2013
Carrie Haddad Gallery is pleased to present a “Summer Exhibit” featuring landscape paintings by Leigh Palmer and photographic studies by Shelly Lependorf & Stan Shire and aerial photographs by John Griebsch. New works on paper from “Across the Board” by Kenneth Polinskie will also be on display. The work will be on view from July 11th through August 11th with a reception for the artists on Saturday, July 13th from 6-8 PM. All are welcome to attend. A permanent resident of the Hudson Valley, Leigh Palmer rediscovers scenes from his environment in his studio, allowing the abstractions to emerge only from his memory of what is felt and observed on a daily basis. The slight contours and shadows of his hillside and river views, invite the viewer to identify a particular river bed, a billow of smoke, or a reflection of the sky in a body of water. Commonly known for his use of encaustic (paint or pigment mixed with beeswax), Palmer's most recent body of work abandons detailed etching and instead employs oil layered on recycled canvas to attain a more abstract depiction. This choice in materials enables him to work on a larger scale, up to 40 inches in this particular exhibit. Palmer's romantic quality is achieved by scumbling, a technique of texturizing the earthy terrain in his landscape by smudging the paint. Palmer frames most of his perspectives by presenting a border superimposed on the canvas itself, giving the viewer a sensation of looking out into the world from wherever they stand. Leigh Palmer received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and has work in many private collections as well as major museums. We saw some of his still lifes at the Luce Collection in Wash. D.C. last month. He also exhibits in Nantucket and NYC. Shelly Lependorf and Stan Shire have been collaborating since 2002. Shire is a retired professor of Photographic Imaging and Lependorf is an established visual artist; the duo gained a new strength by combining their expertise to create works of art that blur the lines between photographers who make art and artists who use photography. Their work documents the ongoing relationship between art and technology. The prints are rich with saturated color and oversized to allow the viewer to “step into nature.” Lependorf & Shire both live, with their respective spouses, in Philadelphia, PA. Their photography, which hangs in the Philadelphia Stock Exchange was purchased here in Hudson, but that may be simply because we fly the flag of the historic Philadelphia Calvalry. One of those happy coincidences. Lependorf and Shire love to photograph the East Coast landscape to capture its essence, color and light. Six extra-large prints hang in this exhibit. From his vintage 1952 Cessna 170B aircraft, John Griebsch, also photographs the landscape, both natural and man-made, but from the air. From his vintage 1952 Cessna 170B aircraft, Griebsch has logged over 100,000 miles and 250 images in his series entitled “AERIAS”. Griebsch is a master of composition in that he commands our focus with selective designs that capture a small but significant portion of the landscape he flies over. The viewer is left with a satisfying perspective of a geographical sense of the land, as well as a visual sense found within the confines of the camera lens. John has been flying around the east coast and showing with Carrie Haddad Gallery for about ten years, as well as with several other galleries in the US. He lives in Rochester, NY. A new series of small works on paper by Kenneth Polinskie, “Across the Board” refers to the range of his subject matter and the assortment of inspiration which happens to cross his drawing board. Polinskie’s love affair with nature is coupled with his curiosity for human behavior, which he studies through allegorical subjects. Frogs, dogs, rabbits and oppossums live on the paper and set an example for the humans who observe them. As in Aesop’s Fables, he reverses the structure of the food chain and the power it delegates by manipulating the scale of prey and predator. With over twenty years of studio practice, master papermaker, Ken Polinskie has made stacks of exquisite paper made of bark, flowers, dyes and cotton as a base for his allegorical ink and gouache paintings. Each piece reveals a very personal story about life, family, friends, and Mother Earth. And don't let the bears, frogs,rabbits and opossum fool you....these paintings can cut right through to your heart. Better bring a hankie.
