June 2008
Paintings by Larry Morelli and Lenny Moskowitz
NEW HAVEN, May 19, 2008- Kehler Liddell Gallery presents paintings by member artist Larry Morelli and guest artist Lenny Moskowitz throughout our summer season. The show will be on display from June 12 to July 27 and afterwards by appointment. The artist reception will be held in the gallery from 6-9pm on Saturday June 21.
Both painters have been creating since the 1970’s, Morelli with a degree from Michigan State University and Moskowitz from Cranebrook Academy of Art. Yet only recently has Morelli found his voice as an artist. The resulting two bodies of work are a study in widely varying artistic interpretation. Morelli paints hushed landscapes and figures with an austere color palette and thick brooding strokes. Moskowitz transcribes the vibrant translucent colors and textures of New England summer fields in loosely formed impressions on the canvas.
Morelli is on a quest to capture and define the elusive gaze. “First to last- we look…. to get the gaze, ‘the looking’ of someone who is sitting in front of me feels like a chase and I’m just trying to keep up, to get it before it goes.” This frenzied foxhunt down unknown paths following the scent to catch a glimpse of the hunted is what informs Morelli’s dense passages and slashing brushstrokes across broad canvases. The overwhelming desire to stop the forward march of time and the internalization and contemplation of his subject matter produce intensely emotional paintings. The eye and mind are drawn toward the center of the canvas and submerged in the viscous tar pit of oil paint that seems to slide of the canvas.
Moskowitz paints vibrant landscapes in the tradition of the en plein air Impressionists. His staccato brushstrokes and saturated color palette capture the pleasant intensity of nature in summertime New England. Moskowitz strives for balance and simplicity in his work, recreating the spirit of the subject through a flow of movement and the exaggeration or exclusion of colors until it takes on a life of its own. Yearly trips to Monhegan Island off the coast of Maine provide the artist with inspiring landscapes, allowing him to revisit familiar landscapes with new perspective, as if painting for the first time. He paints without preconceived notions, allowing experimentation to impart his emotional reaction to the visual world on his canvases.
The public is welcome join the artist and community in celebration of the artist reception on Saturday, June 21 6-9pm at the Kehler Liddell Gallery, located in Westville Village at 873 Whalley Avenue, 203-389-9555. There is no admission fee for the gallery or reception. Hours of operation are Thursday through Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and by appointment.
