Chaos and Serenity

New works by Pat Horner and Christie Scheele

2005 Jul 1 - Aug 14

Opening Reception for the Artists Saturday, Jul 2, 5 - 7 pm

Pat Horner works in the abstract—even her landscape based paintings transfigured into an elusive, evocative play of shapes and perfected brush strokes. Christie Scheele renders representational landscapes in flawlessly muted and absolutely gorgeous line and color. Horner’s work often evokes chaos; Scheele conjures serenity. The common denominator: the accomplished nature of each body of work and the way in which each artist perceives the world as one in which we can all, at one time or another, relate—the universality of the show.

Through mixed media, Horner pushes boundaries of seeing and looking. “Life is fragmented and artificial and by building a new vision of what one perceives as ‘art,’ I try to tap the intuitive wisdom and reassemble the illusion of reality. I want to push boundaries; to merge and create a new way of seeing and looking at life—to make the abstract representational and the representational abstract. These are my goals,” says Horner. Her work is complex and filled with movement.

Influenced by Rothko and Louise Nevelson, among others, Scheele’s work is minimalist, yet complex. “It strikes me that a reward of artistic maturity is that one can increase complexity, bringing more and more into a work, keeping all the balls in the air. I can have my delicious, meditative painting process, and also let my mind romp through art history, without the result looking disconnected.  This is achieved by letting new ideas (that often seem unrelated to landscape painting in any traditional way) perc for a period of time, both subconsciously and with applied problem-solving, before I settle on my approach,” says the artist.

Scheele has exhibited in numerous venues throughout the East, including DFN Gallery, NYC; Craven Gallery, Martha’s Vineyard; and Carrie Haddad, Hudson, NY. She is collected by Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, New Paltz; American Airlines, NYC, and Kelsey Grammer, Malibu, CA, among others.

Horner, too, has exhibited widely, including Wright Gallery, Kingston, NY; New York Biennial, Albany; and Gordon, Pym & Fils, Paris. Her collectors include the Center of Photography, Woodstock, and Minneapolis Institute of Art.