What a great surprise it was the day I received a letter from Lilian the Associate Director of Nancy Margolis Gallery. At first, I thought how do they know me? Is this real? I knew the gallery and several of the artists that they have shown and more than that the significance of the gallery. Nancy has been in NYC for over 30 years and in Chelsea for 17. I’ve seen many great exhibitions there. I checked my Instagram and yes they were following me so I quickly followed back. Embarrassingly I missed that they had been following me. You never know who’s looking. It reminds me of this poem that a teacher had me read everyday when I was a kid. There are little eyes upon you … (excerpt). 

As with many galleries due to the pandemic, they made a decision to close their 25^th Street location and created an online viewing room. It made sense. So much is online. Nothing will ever replace seeing the work in real life and I gave this a lot of thought. This being my first show with a NY Gallery and it’s all online. I thought of it this way, after the month-long show where does the work live? … a back room, my studio or online. Anyone can come to the studio to view the work, it was an easy decision.

NMG decided to curate an overview of my work. I paint portraits, landscapes, still life and narratives. The works were selected, often combining elements from each into a single composition. My subjects range from personal experiences and my physical surroundings, from the everyday to the invented, from corners of my studio to conjured worlds. They aren’t complete narratives but entryways. The narrative forms between the works. The still life titled Modigliani is really a double portrait. The Landscape of Faran is set against a landscape and part of that landscape is repeated in Cowboy Up III. A discussion over Pinafore III led to the title of the show. As we discussed title ideas, Lilian made a comment on the narrative aspect of this work and I blurted out that I always called them Story Paintings. I hope you enjoy the show! 

Story paintings will be on display in the Nancy Margolis Gallery’s Online Viewing Room from January 11th – February 25th, 2022. Catalog available.