• Peter Hendrick
• Aydin Aghdashloo
• Michelle Montague
• Odon Wagner
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Peter Hendrick Aydin Aghdashloo,
Michelle Montague & Odon Wagner

Peter Hendrick
New Work
Gallery 888
November 9 - November 26 2006

Title: Dresser Top
Artist: Peter Hendrick
Medium: Oil on Board
Dimensions: 24" x 48"
Image Courtesy: Gallery 888

Peter Hendrick describes his artistic style as, "figurative and painterly representational by which I mean the work is representational, but there is an emphasis on the brushstroke and the paint rather that a detailed rendering of the subject matter."

The artist says, "I enjoy the physical act of mixing colors and applying paint. I am also fascinated by contemporary society and how we create meaning in our lives – this is the subject of the work. By showing these paintings I’m trying to share what I’m thinking about and hopefully you will find it interesting. A friend called some of these paintings “disturbing”. I liked that response."

"All of the works focus on people in the world of today. Sometimes the people are signaled by objects such as shoes, or mannequins or personal spaces such as a cluttered dresser top. But the central subject is people. The composer Wagner argued that human beings are inescapably social and that we define ourselves by the way we relate to the rest of human society. I find the nuances of this process very complex, fascinating and constantly changing. Social encounters only exist for an instant but they live in memory for long periods of time. In the attics of our memories, our prior experience shapes how we see the social encounter. Many of my paintings can be seen as a central social exchange which is being translated by different memories or symbols also in the painting.

"I am very interested in how we present ourselves in society – to other people – and the codes and conventions we use to communicate non-verbally. From our clothing to our posture, we continuously communicate subtle meanings. As soon as I see people or their clothing or their personal space, I begin to construct a narrative about these people –who they are, what they do, what they like, what they fear, how they chose to shape their lives. Most of these paintings deal with my view of contemporary society – what appetites and desires drive our behavior - how that behavior affects others – how we fit into the constructs of accepted society – how societal constructs are changing."

Adding, "I am also exploring the act of painting. Paint can never capture what we see – a painting will always be an interpretation or a metaphor for visual response. Optical science tells us that human vision works like a camera, that what we really see is a photo-like image complying with all the principles of perspective created by the lens of our eyeball. While the mechanics of the eye are clear, I think the process of seeing is much more complex. Our eyes race around the field of vision, zoom in and out and many aspects of what we see are ignored, while other elements are focused on intensely and that as we look we are constantly recalling memories of similar details we have experienced in the past. The paintings in this show are an attempt to represent this process of seeing and the process when we recall what we have seen from memory."

Aydin Unlimited
Arta Gallery
November 2 - November 16 2006

Michelle Montague
Reflections
ACA Gallery
November 8 - December 16 2006

Title: Bon Voyage / Sirens' Whispering, August 2006
Artist: Michelle Montague
Medium: Acrylic on Panel
Dimensions: 24" x 24"
Image Courtesy: Michelle Montague

"I have always been fascinated with the landscape: fiction or non-fiction, natural or modified. Right now my work consists of taking elements of the real world, (architectural structures, industrial sites, nature etc...) and manipulating it into something unreal. Modifying the environment for myself references the human's desire to manipulate the space to however he/she sees fit. These works reference nature and technology, how they coexist and what happens when they do not. They are not based in any particular period for time has no relevance and is not linear in these worlds that exist on canvas. Music plays an integral part of my process which inspires the line, colors and shapes used to create an image. Most of my "abstracted landscapes" are meditative by nature and are inspired by cinematic scores such as Vangelis, Tangerine Dream or music by Asza," says Michelle Montague

Odon Wagner
Fine Paintings 2006 : November 30 - December 16 2006

British artist Arthur Eisley excelled in the depiction of children in happy settings. A native of London he preferred country settings. In 1891 Elsley won a sliver medal at the Crystal Palace Exhibition that did so much to celebrate the best of British industry, including the creative forms.