The Arts

Rita Maas: Skylight Views at Galerie BMG
Skylight Views, one of the latest series by Westchester photographer Rita Maas, is comprised of multiple images of the same view from a skylight in the artist’s home, documenting its constantly shifting features at different moments in time. The show will run through February 22.

Created with a unique visual perspective, the images invite the viewer to look both at and through the glass surface, becoming aware of the passage of time through the changing seasons and light. Shown in sequences, primarily in triptych format, Rita’s intent is for “the images to create a visual language of fragmented moments, taking on temporal qualities of a slow quiet nature. The subject matter becomes the experience of seeing; common encounters in intimate and familiar places, explored moments where content and meaning become inseparable.”

Rita’s photographs have been featured in numerous exhibitions and cited for a number of awards across the country. Her artwork is included in several corporate and museum collections and has also been featured in various magazines and advertising campaigns over the past twenty years. Rita received her BFA in Photography in 1981 from the School of Visual Arts in New York after studying painting at Hartford Arts School at the University of Hartford

Galerie BMG is located at 12 Tannery Brook Road in Woodstock. Winter gallery hours are Friday 12- 5 pm, Saturday and Sunday 11 am - 6 pm, Monday 12 - 5 pm or other times by appointment. For more information, please call 845 679 0027.

Palisades Virtuosi Trio in Saugerties
Saugerties Pro Musica presents an afternoon of music to warm the depths of winter with a February 28 concert by the trio, Palisades Virtuosi. Flutist Margaret Swinchoski, clarinetist Donald Mokrynski and pianist Ron Levy combine standard repertoire with new works, all performed with
virtuosic and passionate flair. They are an ensemble that cares deeply about connecting living composers with living audiences. Palisades Virtuosi plays well-known music, too, but the heart of nearly every concert is the premiere of a commissioned work.

Palisades Virtuosi was established to promote and enrich the repertoire for flute, clarinet and piano. During over seven years of performances, the musicians known as Palisades Virtuosi have delighted audiences throughout the Northeast. They have presented concerts at many important
venues, performing newly commissioned works from the top composers of our times, including Pulitzer-Prize-winning, Paul Moravec. In addition, they have commissioned arrangements or transcriptions of existing works, as well as having been gifted with works by many composers.

This concert will be held on Sunday, February 28 at 3 pm at the Saugerties United Methodist Church on the corner of Washington Avenue & Post Street. Admission is Adults $12, Seniors $10, and Students with ID always FREE!For a full calendar of concerts visit www.saugertiespromusica.org or call 845 246 5021

Please Don't Touch the Art!—Nudes at the Mark Gruber Gallery in New Paltz
Please Don’t Touch the Art!—Nudes, a group show at the Mark Gruber Gallery takes it’s name from a recent anecdote concerning a young girl who got too close to the sumptuous velvets in a painting in Minneapolis. A guard admonished her, “Please don’t lick the art!” Being that velvets, and all other fabrics, are scarce in the paintings of this show, “Don’t Touch…” was a bit more proprietary. This exhibit will run through March 10, 2010.

Sensitive and sensual, these nudes in New Paltz have a long and storied history in the world of art. Painted and revered for so many reasons, from scientific and medical, to religious, to exotic and erotic, nudes give the viewer insight into the eternal truths of human existence.
Exquisite and vulnerable, the delicate mixed media nudes by Eric Angeloch share space with the sensual photos of Williams and Russ of Photosensualis. Herb Chong’s photos juxtapose the beauty of our local landscapes with the beauty of the human body. John Varriano’s Renaissance style addresses the ideal in “au natural”. Of course the show would not be complete without the great late Franklin Alexander’s elegant compositions. Many more artists are featured—including Vince Natale’s provocative stances, Micheal Peery, Maija Verde, and Erin McGrath to name a few. New to the gallery are the sculptures of Jo-Ann Brody.

The Mark Gruber Gallery is located in the New Paltz Plaza (Super Stop and Shop), New Paltz, NY. Gallery hours are: Monday 11-5:30; Tuesday-Friday 10-5:30; Saturday 10-5:00; Sunday by appointment. For more information, please contact Mark Gruber at 845 255 1241.