Scott McIntire [Greenport, NY]

Solo Exhibition
Scott McIntire’s paintings hum with an energy and vibrancy.  In many cases, the pieces do more than hum—they crackle.  The concentric circles and energy fields in his pieces add a kinetic feeling to his work, while providing a cohesive unity of space.  These elements also give evidence to his superior skills with a brush, as well as his mastery as a color theorist.

In his painting, “Toad Lily and Metallic Green Bee,” McIntire depicts a Metallic Green Bee (Agapostemon) preparing to pollinate a Toad Lily.  The flower appears to lean toward the bee, its speckled petals open, revealing its receptive stigma to the poised and ready bee.  The energy fields in the background suggest the ultraviolet light of the sun (used by bees to navigate), as well as the vitality of life and renewal.

In his painting, “Attack of the 50ft Woman,” McIntire plays with the palette.  The painting depicts a nocturnal scene, as “Attack of the 50ft Woman” plays on the drive-in movie screen, but the vivid warmth of the sky glows with the brilliant luminescence of daylight.  The speakers emerging toward the foreground elicit the suggestion of sound or music, as the kinetic energy dances in the background—the concentric circles and energy fields evoking the excitement of cinematic experience and memories of a bygone era.

Scott McIntire has exhibited throughout the US and abroad, including Kenneth Paul Lesko Gallery’s international cinema exhibitions.

 

Lissa Bockrath [Cleveland, OH]
Solo Exhibition
Lissa Bockrath draws her subjects from nature, but her inspiration is drawn from the process of painting itself—the inherent elements of the medium, as it reacts and interacts on the surface of the canvas.  Her subjects are powerful and evocative, like the smoking ruin of a forest fire or the incandescent glow of molten lava, but it’s her gestural abstraction that makes the pieces so compelling.

Bockrath’s lushly painted surfaces have an expressionist spontaneity.  In a sense, the brushwork takes precedence over the subject.  The landscape may be the impetus for the painting, but the initial concept serves primarily as a vehicle.  The intuitive process that evolves on the canvas creates an interplay between the gestural freedom of the abstraction and the resulting imagery of her landscapes.

In Bockrath’s painting, “Parting of the Red Sea,” the viewer becomes engaged in the depths of the landscape—the opposing shores and flowing water, the hint of a horizon, and the sky beyond—while constantly being led back to the surface to admire the gestural beauty of its creation.

Scott McIntire Solo Exhibition: March 21 – May10, 2014

Lissa Bockrath Solo Exhibition: May 16 – July 12, 2014

Kenneth Paul Lesko Gallery

1305 West 80th Street

Cleveland, Ohio 44102

kennethpaullesko.com

216.631.6719

images:

Scott McIntire

“Toad Lily and Metallic Green Bee”

Enamel on Canvas

28 x 18 inches

Lissa Bockrath

“Parting of the Red Sea”

Oil on Canvas

30 x 30 inches