Chace-Randall Gallery proudly presents "Avian Impressions," new works by Inverna Lockpez, and "Glimpses," new works by Patrick McCay Aug 10 – Sep 17. A Reception for the Artist is Saturday, August 11, 5 - 7 p.m. Inverna Lockpez, a native of Cuba and well-known painter/curator in New York City and the Catskill Mountain region, is currently living in northern Florida, taken by the beauty of the sea and the bird life which abounds there. Hence, "Avian Impressions.", her most recent and stellar accomplishment. Ms. Lockpez's accomplishments are numerous: While living in Manhattan she won a major outdoor competition for a 25-foot sculpture under the auspices of The Municipal Art Society. She received grants from The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Creative Artists Public Service (CAPS), CINTAS Foundation, and a CETA award. By the nineties her paintings had already been part of more than 80 exhibitions around the country and for her work she received three NYSCA Decentralization Grants administered by the Roxbury Arts Group. Her books "The Noble Barn" and, most recently, "Cuba: My Revolution," have received national attention and glowing reviews. We celebrate Ms. Lockpez's new series and her long awaited visit back to our mountains. Writes critic Hertha Schulze: "Avian Impressions represents a visual meditation on the survival of species that have been transported in time. Seagulls, gray and blue herons, pelicans, egrets, ibises, and wood storks have all adapted to the suburban development that continually erodes their habitat.” The “political” is seen in Lockpez’s composition, as well. “Placing the birds at the edges of the canvas exploits the tension between the object and its surrounding space,” notes Schulze, adding that “the paintings use color and texture to reinforce such oppositions.” Originally from Scotland, Patrick McCay’s exhibition history includes London's Royal Academy, The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, The Edinburgh Royal Academy, and the London Institute, among others. His work is collected by numerous corporate and private collectors. He is currently Dean of Fine Arts, New Hampshire Institute for the Arts. Here his work in oil on canvas charts his response to the landscape of rural New Hampshire and domestic iconography, the whimsical ever present. The "Glimpse" series represents painterly re-visits and a re-contextualizing of well known icons and experiences of the New England environ. They are a visual journalistic alchemy of editorial flashes and fragments of signature scenes and moments that pepper the artist’s journeys throughout New England. “Seen often at speed from the portals of our vehicles, I have attempted to distil the visual handwriting of these moments encapsulating and interpreting the glimpse in a series of formal invention that simultaneously embraces clarity and ambiguous symbol,” says the artist, adding that “the compositional objective is to provide a lofty significance to the landscape iconography and impose the dignity of the unknown to that which is all too well known.” Ultimately the paintings strive to be at once interpretive and immediate utilizing the power of summary and unpredictability to exploit expressive visual surprises. Chace-Randall Gallery is located at 49 Main Street, Andes, NY. Gallery Hours: Friday - Sunday and Holiday Mondays 11 - 5, and by appointment. For more information call 845.676.4901 or visit www.chacerandallgallery.com.
