Goshen artist's paintings on display

NARROWSBURG, NY — “Paintings, Postcards,” an exhibit of paintings by Gary Abramson will be on display at the Delaware Arts Center’s Alliance Gallery in Narrowsburg, N.Y. through Aug. 9.

“I strive for an intimate effect, suitable to an audience of private individuals as opposed to public passersby,” says artist Gary Abramson, who works primarily in pocket-size formats. “I think of my work as hand-made postcards, of sights, scenes that moved me enough to depict them.”

Abramson’s oil and gouache paintings often portray figures in urban street scenes and country garden settings. The style of painting harkens to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, using dabs of color to capture the feeling of the scene, rather than specific details.

“I was influenced by the French Post-Impressionist painter Pierre Bonnard's work, and have been told my paintings are ‘impressionistic,’” he says. “But, to me, they’re realistic to the extent my vision and dexterity permit.”

A native of Philadelphia who now resides in Goshen, N.Y., Abramson was educated at Union College and earned a law degree from Columbia University. He currently works for the Legal Aid Society of Orange County, a not-for-profit organization representing low-income people accused of crime. This is his first solo exhibit as an artist.

“I started painting in 1996, after the desire to paint finally overcame the avoidance that resulted from the assumption I wouldn't be good at it. As soon as I picked up a brush, whether I was good was not an issue: the experience itself was, and remains, more than good enough,” Abramson says.

Free and open to the public, the exhibit is sponsored by the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, the Arts Council for Sullivan County, N.Y., and is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Alliance Gallery is located at the Delaware Arts Center at 37 Main Street, Narrowsburg, N.Y. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information about the exhibit call 845-252-7576 or visit www.delawarevalleyartsalliance.org.

Tulips and Other Surprises from the Natural World

“Tulips and Other Surprises from the Natural World” drawings and paintings by Linda Bastian are on display to view at the Delaware Arts Center’s Loft Gallery in Narrowsburg, N.Y. through Aug. 9.

“Growing up in a New England home filled with Chinese and Japanese art, I was influenced by the flattened, abstracted shapes of flora and fauna embedded in Chinese and Japanese rugs, china, and fabrics,” says artist Linda Bastian.

Bastian’s works are tapestries of lush colors and organic forms, intensified by shimmering lights and dramatic shadows. Her work, like nature, is both fragile, as seen in the delicate nuances of color and intricate content, and strong, as seen in the clarity and high contrasts of dark and light in the images.

Bastian recently returned from five years of teaching art in the Middle East, where she was influenced by flowers and gardens often depicted in Islamic art.

“In both the West and in the Middle East, the garden is a metaphor for Paradise. Gardens remove us from the details of our daily routines, and allow us to focus on the meaning of our existence in a grander, more universal scheme of life,” she says. “I think that since flowers and gardens are transient, by painting them I keep their essence alive.

After graduating from Antioch College with a B.A. in Design, Bastian received her Master’s at the Boston Museum School and Tufts University, and a Ph.D. at New York University. For 30 years she lived and exhibited in New York City, chairing the Art Education Department at the School of Visual Arts for 19 years, before relocating to Callicoon, NY. During this period Linda was included in seven museum shows, 25 solo shows, and 68 group exhibitions.

Bastian’s exhibitions in the Middle East included “guest artist” at the Annual Egyptian Photographers Salon in Cairo, a solo “artist in residence” show at Qatar’s Ministry of Culture in Doha, two solo shows at Bait Muzna Gallery in Muscat (Oman), sponsored by the American Embassy, a solo exhibition at Abu Dhabi’s Cultural Center (U.A.E.), a solo show with the Foundation for Music and Art in Abu Dhabi, and inclusion in the Sharjah (U.A.E.) Museum’s International Women Artists’ Biennial (purchase prize).

Abroad, her work is in the collections of the Omani Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Culture in Abu Dhabi, the Sharjah Museum, and the Union de Credite Bank of Mexico City.

Bastian’s work in this country is included in over 30 corporate collections as well as UNICEF, U.S. State Dept., Lowe Museum in Miami, Bronx Museum of Fine Art, Amarillo Art Center, the Hilton Hotels, Colgate-Palmolive, Reader’s Digest, Temple University (purchase prize), and the U. S. Postal Service (mural award), among others.

Free and open to the public, the exhibit is sponsored by the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, the Arts Council for Sullivan County, NY, and is made possible in part by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

The Loft Gallery is located at the Delaware Arts Center at 37 Main Street, 2nd floor Narrowsburg, NY and is accessible by elevator. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information about the exhibit call 845-252-7576 or visit www.DelawareValleyArtsAlliance.org.