Harry Orlyk

"The Frame, what exactly is the frame? Is it a decorative note of separation between art and life, a box to hold an image? Whatever it is, it is a useful studio tool to making artistic work more approachable. Yet, with no disrespect for the power of a frame to make a person buy a painting, or even like a painting, I often choose to exhibit without it.

Twenty seven years ago I set out to paint ten thousand, on-site landscape paintings. To achieve this I adopted a daily habit of morning preparations and afternoon painting sorties into surrounding land. After a dozen years of this, I realized how my painting expressed more of the relationship a human has with the land and less about what products the land can produce.

My painting, sketching and drawing go on month after month, season after season, without stopping to duck the storms and bitter weather. In this, a spiral has begun to pull me through time as it pulled the centuries of farmers and hunters who have come this way. I am the hunter, always seeking the right place, the farmer, aware of the weather, of plant and animal life. It is the process, the relationship to a cyclic world that interests me more than the products, more than nicely framed paintings. Beyond this, I hope my paintings can be seen as portraits of days. Each day is a model who will not return tomorrow. To paint even the same place on a second day is to a paint a sitter who wasn¹t the one who was there yesterday. The Northeast and Great Plains, where I have spent most of my life is much visually effected by weather and climate. Skies are as different from day to day as people's faces. As they pass I try to know them personally.

In years of living with fairly large bodies of recent work there has evolved a way of grouping it in my studio. Paintings, often fifty to sixty, unframed, but stretched to the surface of homosote boards line most of the studio’s wall space. These are often in rows of five paintings, from tight sequences of days, stacked one row above another. The main wall of the studio usually contains fifteen images. I often refer to this as a ‘wall’ of paintings. Often the relationship between work is cinema graphic, instantly telling a story of landscape painting progressing through endless variation.

Frequently, clusters of work surround a painting of special meaning: anniversaries or deaths of people known personally or otherwise. Now a wall of paintings hanging at the Nebraska Weslyan University Elder Gallery is titled "Days Surrounding September 11, 2001". Another group of fifteen images in this same show is titled "Requiem for the Disenchanted Farmer". Paintings of days made in the recent summer surrounding a farmer’s death, are of the farmers land and the land surrounding it.

Most recently, I have assembled a wall of paintings surrounding the start of a war where the farmer and his animals and their subsistence are destroyed before the fighters are found. I might call this wall "must safely graze". The advantages to staging work this way are numerous to both the painter and the audience and the framer ultimately gets to frame the work. The painter can focus resources on feeding the material needs of the painting. With long practice, an artist can learn to begin a painting nearly everyday and a visual journal unfolds unlike that of conventionally framed victories in landscape painting that blow our socks off one at a time. The journal points to change, continuity, flow, process. It is in this, perhaps, that I am a more conceptual artist rather than a landscape painter."

Resume

Harry Orlyk was born in Troy, New York in 1947. In 1971 after graduating college, he went on to graduate school at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln . Over the next nine years, he was influenced by several Nebraskan artists. "Still-life painter Robin Smith taught me how to use paint without turpentine - to paint from the tube." He also admits the influence of photographer Lawrence McFarland who taught him what spiritual space was, and how to emphasize it. Lastly he credits well-known Lincoln painter Keith Jacobshagen with having impressed on him the importance of routine. He currently resides with his family in Salem, New York, near the Vermont border.

Born: Troy, New York 1947

EDUCATION and AWARDS
State University of New York New Paltz, New York B.S. 1970
University of Nebraska Lincoln, Nebraska M.F.A. 1974
Woods Fellowship 1974
Guggenheim Fellowship 1995

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2012 Salem Art Works, Salem, NY
Burke Gallery, SUNY Plattsburgh, Like Friends, Long Known, Plattsburgh, NY
Ober Gallery, Kent, CT
Clement Art Gallery, Late Light Leaving, Troy, NY
North Main Gallery, Say Goodbye to Salem, Salem, NY
2011 Cary Gallery, Salem Art Works, Salem NY
Clement Art Gallery, Habitations, Troy, NY
Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
Historic Salem Courthouse Gallery, Salem, NY
2010 Southern Vermont Art Center Gallery, Manchester, VT
Bennington Museum, The Year’s Dark Days, Bennington, Vermont
Cary Gallery, Salem Art Works, Salem, NY
Clement Art Gallery, Here and Now, Troy, NY
Galerie im Fritz-Winter-Atelier, Diessen am Ammersee, Germany
2009 Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
Salem Art Works Visitor Center, Salem, NY
North Main Gallery, After a Winter of Requiems, Salem, NY
B. Beamesderfer Gallery, Highland Park, NJ
2008 Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
Clement Art Gallery, On This Land: Recent Paintings, Troy, NY
Albany International Airport Gallery, Albany, NY
Ivy Associates Gallery, Schuylerville, NY
2007 Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
Garden Gallery, Londonderry, VT
Clement Art Gallery, Troy, NY
Round Hill Gallery, Greenwich, CT
2006 Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
Enderlin Gallery, Roxbury, NY
Gallery 668, Battenville, NY
Chaparral Fine Art, Masters in Montana, Bozeman, MT
B. Beamesderfer Gallery, Highland Park, NJ
2005 Gross McCleaf Gallery, New paintings, Philadelphia, PA
Firlefanz Gallery, Spring and Summer, Albany, NY
Carrie Haddad Gallery, Incarnations, Hudson, NY
2004 Gallery 100, Man of the Land, Saratoga Springs, NY
B. Beamesderfer Gallery, Highland Park, NJ
Gallery 668, 52 Recent Paintings by Harry Orlyk, Battenville, NY
American Farmland Trust, Saratoga Springs, NY
Firlefanz Gallery, Albany, NY
2003 Terrence Rogers Fine Art, Treasure, Santa Monica, CA
Gallery 668, Days, Places, Battenville, NY
Segalas Art, New Vernon, NJ
2002 Saratoga Inst., Harry Orlyk: Landscape Oil Paintings, Saratoga Springs, NY
B. Beamesderfer Gallery, Highland Park, NJ
Gallery 668, Farmland by Harry Orlyk, Battenville, NY
Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
2001 Southern Vermont Art Center Gallery, Manchester, VT
The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Troy, NY
2000 B. Beamesderfer Gallery, Highland Park, NJ
Red Newt Gallery, Hector, NY
Valley Arisans Market, Cambridge, NY
Ginofor Gallery, Cambridge, NY
1999 Haydon Gallery, Nebraska Art Association, Lincoln, NE
Red Newt Gallery, Light on the Land, Hector, NY
1998 Courthouse Gallery, In the Light of Days, Lake George, NY
Albany Center Galleries, Albany, NY
1997 Yates Art Gallery, Siena College, Loudonville, NY
1996 Venable Neslage Galleries, Washington DC
1995 B. Beamesderfer Gallery, Highland Park, NJ
1994 Tatistcheff/Rogers Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
The Gallery, The Environment as Teacher, Glens Falls, NY
1993 The Albany Center Galleries, Albany, NY
1992 Laband Art Gallery, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA
1991 Christine Price Gallery, Castleton State College, Castleton, VT
The Hales Gallery, Glens Falls, NY
1990 Tatistcheff & Co., Santa Monica, CA
1988 Albany Center Galleries, Albany, NY
Tatistcheff & Co., New York, NY
1986 Tatistcheff & Co., New York, NY
Capital Repertory Company, Albany, NY
1985 The Gallery, Glens Falls, NY
Valley Artisan’s Market, Cambridge, NY
1984 Posters Plus Gallery, Albany, NY
1983 Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE
1981 The Center Galleries, Albany, NY
1979 Scotts Bluff Art Center, Scotts Bluff, NE
1978 Elder Gallery, Lincoln, NE
1976 Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2016 "Winter Exhibit", Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY

2013 Carrie Haddad Gallery, Melange, Hudson NY
2012 Carrie Haddad Gallery, Landscapes, Hudson, NY
Agricultural Stewardship Association, Landscapes for Landsake, Cambridge, NY
McCartee’s Barn, Fine Arts and Antiques, Salem, NY
2011 North Main Gallery, Winter Show, Salem, NY
Agricultural Stewardship Association, Landscapes for Landsake, Cambridge, NY
2010 Agricultural Stewardship Association, Landscapes for Landsake, Cambridge, NY
Carrie Haddad Gallery, Landscape, Hudson, NY
McCartee’s Barn, Fine Arts and Antiques, Salem, NY
2009 Agricultural Stewardship Association, Landscapes for Landsake, Cambridge, NY
2008 Agricultural Stewardship Association, Landscapes for Landsake, Cambridge, NY
Ivy Associates Gallery, Schuylerville, NY
2007 Agricultural Stewardship Association, Landscapes for Landsake, Cambridge, NY
McCartee’s Barn, Fine Arts and Antiques, Salem, NY
2006 Agricultural Stewardship Association, Landscapes for Landsake, Cambridge, NY
2005 Gallery 668, Battenville, NY
Terrence Rogers Fine Art, In Celebration of the Life, Santa Monica, CA
2004 Haddad Lascano gallery, Great Barrington, MA
2003 Gallery 100, New Work, Saratoga Springs, NY
Center Gallery, Old Church Cultural Center, Demarest, NJ
2002 Gallery 100, Saratoga Springs, NY
Terrence Rogers Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA
Elder Gallery, 3 Friends, 25 Years, NE Wesleyan University, Lincoln, NE
2001 A View of One’s Own, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
Gross McCleaf Gallery, New Artists’ Show, Philadelphia, PA
White Creek Gallery, A Case for No Space, Salem, NY
Gallery 100, Landscapes Here and Now, Saratoga Springs, NY
2000 Terrence Rogers Fine Art, In the Eye of the Beholder, Santa Monica, CA
Red Newt Gallery, Hector, NY
1999 Atrium Gallery, The Time Between Dogs and Wolves; Paintings and
Field Studies by Keith Jacobshagen & Harry Orlyk, Union College, Schenectady, NY
Mandeville Gallery, Enduring Vision: Cotemporary Painters in the
Tradition of the Hudson River School, Union College, Schenectady, NY
1998 Sharon Truax Fine Art, A Trio of Painters, Venice, CA
White Creek Gallery, The Land and Other Views, Salem, NY
White Creek Gallery, Two Guys From Cohoes, , Salem, NY
1996 Tatistcheff/Rogers, On Site: Painting on the Road, Santa Monica, CA
1995 Fletcher Gallery, Perspectives in Landscape, Woodstock, NY
Tatistcheff/Rogers, Harvest Moon, Santa Monica, CA
1993 Tatistcheff/Rogers, The Anniversary Show, Santa Monica, CA
1991 Tatistcheff Gallery, Summertime, Santa Monica, CA
Five Points Gallery, Art for the Land, East Chatham, NY
1990 Tortue Gallery, Contemporary Landscapes, Santa Monica, CA
Tatistcheff & Co., Kindred Spirits: Three in the Landscape, New York, NY
1989 Tatistcheff Gallery, Documenting a Moment:
Contemporary Plein Air Landscape, Santa Monica, CA
1988 Tatistcheff Gallery, People, Places, Things, Santa Monica, CA
Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Loretto, PA
Memorial Art Gallery, Contemporary Landscape, Photographs and Paintings, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
1987 Dalsheimer Gallery, Ltd., Landscape: A Point of View, Baltimore, MD
American Academy Institute of Arts and Letters, Paintings and Sculpture by Candidates for Art Awards, New York, NY
1986 Orlando Museum at Loch Haven, Contemporary Romantic Landscape, FL
Tatistcheff & Co., Summer Group, New York, NY
1985 Albany Institute of History and Art, The New Response;
Contemporary Painters of the Hudson River, Albany, NY
Albany Center Galleries, Small Works, Albany, NY
C.S Schulte Gallery, South Orange, NJ
1984 Sheldon Mem. Art Gallery, Smaller than a Bread Box, Univ. of NE, Lincoln, NE
1983 Albany State Plaza, Plaza Exhibition, Albany, NY
Hamm-Brickman Gallery, Albany, NY
1979 Swan River Museum, In Respect of Space, Paola, KS
1978 Sheldon Mem. Art Gallery, Nebraska Seen, Univ. of NE, Lincoln, NE
Koeig Art Gallery, Concordia College, Seward, NE
1975 Joslyn Art Museum, Nebraska ’75, Omaha, NE

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bolt, Tom: “Harry Orlyk”, Arts Magazine, October, 1986
Mathews-Berensen, Margaret: “Harry Orlyk”, American Artist, July, 1987
Cahill, Timothy: “In His Element: The Landscape According to Harry
Orlyk” Metroland Magazine, Albany, NY, December 22-28, 1988
DeMasi, Michael: “Expressions of the Life- Painter Harry Orlyk, Sunday
Post-Star, Glens Falls, NY, December 13, 1992
Kreiner, Rich: “Water Under the Bridge: Paintings by Harry Orlyk”,
Metroland Magazine, Albany, NY, August 8-14, 1996
Olkowski, Lu: “Landscape Arist on the Road”, Weekend America,
http.//weekendamerica.publicradio.org/, December 4, 2004
Rice, Ross: “Earth’s Scribe: Artist Harry Orlyk”, Roll Magazine,
Creative Living in the Hudson Valley, March 10-April 10, 2008
Gruse, Doug: “Driving Force Behind Art”, Post Star, Glens Falls, NY,
December 23, 2008
Horne, Field: “The Landscapes We Love”, Saratoga Living, including the
Foothills of the Adirondacks, Winter 2009/2010