Elisa Contemporary Art  presents a new pop-up gallery and public art exhibit, Hudson River Landscapes, at Sotheby’s International Realty (Riverdale, NY).

 

The exhibit is an homage to the majestic and historic river. Full of raw emotion, pure energy and mysterious beauty, the exhibit features the abstract and expressionistic landscapes of three female artists. Two are from New York State: renowned Mount Kisco artist Elaine Galen and, Syracuse native, Sharon Gordon. The third artist, Marie Danielle Leblanc, adds her richly colored perspective from across the border in Canada.

 

The exhibit  explores a range of mediums and artist styles which capture the Hudson River. From mixed media inset visions and bold pen and ink drawings by Elaine Galen, to the oil paintings of Sharon Gordon where the sky, water and land seamlessly converge, to the intensely pigmented poetic landscapes of Marie Danielle Leblanc. 

 

About the Artists: 

 

Internationally-recognized as a painter, sculptor, and educator, Elaine Galen has created an intimate dialogue with nature, using the painting process to explore its mystical, surreal and the spiritual aspects. Though her early work began in the style of Abstract Expressionism, she quickly developed her own distinctive style and evocative visual language.

 

Elaine’s landscapes are both perfectly abstract and wildly expressionistic, full of raw emotion, pure energy and mysterious beauty. Her landscapes capture the emotional intensity and ever-changing moods of nature where light and color are in constant transition. Paint in her hands is fluid and swift, streaks of brilliant color alternating with open passages. Her paintings pay homage to the mystical canyons of the American Southwest and ancient deserts and sacred lands of Israel and Jordan.

 

Elaine’s artwork has been exhibited in major museums throughout the world including the Whitney Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art and Israel Museum, and is part of many corporate and private collections. Her work has been acclaimed by art critics and curators as “hauntingly beautiful” and “powerful” …”bordering on the visionary and surreal” and a “mystical realization of place.”

 

Elaine lives in Mt. Kisco, New York with her husband, the noted abstract painter and printmaker, Ed Colker.

In Sharon Gordon’s landscapes, you can feel her deep connection and passion for the ever-changing nature of large bodies of water, and the mystery and promise of the horizon. The view imposes a presence, a meter, balancing human scale and condition as a piece of a larger perspective.

 

According to Sharon, "My current work is intended to capture and transport the viewer into a segment of a larger landscape that may be seemingly ambiguous, yet familiar. The paintings provide an opportunity to wander through passages exploring one’s whereabouts, recalling moments of time and space that may have been visited before."

 

Sharon’s paintings balance delicately on the fine line between abstraction and representation. What is a threatening sky to one viewer becomes a turbulent sea to another; what strikes one as serene instills anxiety in another. Sharon’s landscapes are infused with an emotional power and sense of harmonious tension that is uniquely her own vision.

 

Sharon has been featured in gallery exhibits throughout the U.S. since 1998 including participation in the Everson Museum of Art Biennial in Syracuse.

 

Canadian artist, Marie Danielle Leblanc, was born in Trois-Rivières (Quebec) and has lived and worked in Montreal (Quebec) since 1990. Her paintings transform landscapes into poetic worlds. Her deeply saturated palettes bring new life to the sea, land and sky. And she transports her viewers to timeless and imaginary landscapes.

 

During her travels, she likes to write down her thoughts, make a note of the weather or the name of a place, take pictures and collect images. Leblanc’s travel diary is an ideal instrument for her. Whether she is driving on the highway or in the open country, walking on never-ending beaches or rocks stroked by the sea, it is through her travels that the artist captures landscapes that stretch into the vista.

 

She has had 20 solo exhibitions, and been part of more than 50 group exhibitions. Her work has also been shown throughout Canada and in Paris, Sydney, Mexico and Tokyo. 

 

A portion of all sales donated to Free Arts NYC and Arts to Grow.