COVERED BRIDGES, new works by INVERNA LOCKPEZ

Chace-Randall Gallery proudly presents Covered Bridges, new paintings by Inverna Lockpez, Oct 2 – Nov 8. A Reception for the Artist is Saturday, October 3, 5 – 7 p.m.

In this new body of work, 12 glorious canvasses, Inverna Lockpez once again celebrates the rich history of the Catskill Mountains.  This time she paints covered bridges.

Although the bridge structures are at the center of the canvasses, the magnificent Catskill landscape takes center stage.  Ms. Lockpez’s use of color and tone transmit mood, and her brushstrokes enhance emotion.  We feel in her paintings the roughness of the wood, the grandeur of our forests, and the purity and transparency of our water.

Nature and man-made structures are recognizable although Lockpez dissolves the hard outlines of forms into surrounding space.  Her canvasses are intimate places where illusion and enlightenment cannot be separated, and where fleeting fragments of nature are captured in painterly brushstrokes.

Inverna Lockpez, a native of Cuba and well-known painter/curator in New York City, built a studio in the Catskills in the 1980’s because the misty mountains with their many creeks and rivers reminded her of her native country. Her accomplishments in the Catskill Mountain Region, as well as New York City, are numerous:  While living in Manhattan she won a major outdoor competition for a 25-foot sculpture under the auspices of The Municipal Art Society.  She received grants from The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Creative Artists Public Service (CAPS), CINTAS Foundation, and a CETA award.  By the nineties her paintings had already been part of more than 80 exhibits around the country and for her work she received three NYSCA Decentralization Grants administered by the Roxbury Arts Group. Her book The Noble Barn was released last year to favorable reviews.

Ms. Lockpez is currently the director of the Catskill Center’s Erpf Gallery, Arkville, and its Platte Clove residency, where her ecological and artistic concerns naturally meld.

“Inverna Lockpez is a painter who not only serves to honor the legendary beauty of these mountains, but will one day be a part of that legend. She is undeniably one of the most important painters in our region. The covered bridge series is brilliant,” maintains Chace-Randall Gallery owner/director Zoe Randall.

Chace-Randall Gallery is located at 49 Main Street, Andes, NY. Autumn gallery hours are Friday – Sunday and Holiday Mondays 11 – 5 and by appointment. For more information, call 845.676.4901 or visit www.chacerandallgallery.com.  

Images of the exhibition:

Bendo Bridge Over Willowemoc Creek, 22" x 28"

Blenheim Bridge over Schoharie Creek, 22" x 28"

Buskirk Bridge over the Hoosic River, 36" x 60"

Hamden Bridge over West Branch, Delaware River, 22" x 28"

Fitch's Bridge over West Branch, Delaware River, 36" x 48"

Old Forge Bridge over Dry Brook, 24" x 36"

Tappan-Kittle Bridge over Dry Brook, 28" x 22"

Tuscarora Bridge, Millbrook, 24" x 36"

Van Tran Flat Bridge over Willowemoc Creek, 36" x 48"

Beaverkill-Conklin Bridge over Beaverkill Creek, 22" x 28"

Halls Mills Bridge over Neversink River, 28" x 22"

Hamden Bridge, West Branch Delaware River, 22" x 28"