FEATURED ARTISTS

The Grenning Gallery is pleased to unveil our next exhibition, DALESSIO | WEBER a two person show celebrating Dalessio’s latest global landscapes and introducing East End’s own Nick Weber. This exhibit will hang from April 6th through May 5th 2024. Please join us for an Opening Reception on Saturday, April 6th from 5pm-6:30pm.

As one of Grenning Gallery’s original artists, we are pleased to show the latest works of the now global artist Marc Dalessio (b. 1972, California). Since his first show with us in 2000, Dalessio has become one of the world’s top Plein-Air painters. A gifted draftsman, Dalessio paints subjects exactly as he sees as them, directly observing nature on site. Of course, we know that nature doesn’t sit still, so he is constantly locking in details and colors that ignite his imagination during a painting session. We are grateful for the results and very pleased to have this group of lush landscapes from a variety of regions around the globe in his first show with us since the pandemic. After several years in Portugal, several of Dalessio’s major new works come from in and around his new home in southwestern France. As seen above in Les Andelys at Dawn (2023).

Just before he left Portugal, where he spent most of the pandemic locked in a comfortable studio above the town square, Dalessio created a small yet virtuosic painting of a street farmer’s market. In “The Saturday Market, Estremoz” we see his amazing ability to quickly get the key elements of this shaded market down on the canvas. Expressive yet accurate and intriguing all the same. We also have a quartette of seasonal paintings capturing the Estremoz Castle, which harken back to the Baroque practice of painting a single subject during all four seasons.

We are also very excited, after at least almost a decade later, to have another sought-after orchard painting, nestled in the Tuscan valley that cradles Florence in the background. “Dawn Light, Florence” is a subtle and original painting of this oft painted subject. The dark foreground of inviting shade is contrasted by the surprising choice to reduce Florence’s historical architecture into a carpet of ochre nubs along the valley floor. This painting could only be created by someone who has regularly ventured into the Tuscan landscape, as opposed to someone who had a passing glance at it’s wonders.

Always seeking new material for his expert eye and hand, Dalessio continues to travel the world and paint. Dalessio created “Fishing Boats, Koh Yao Noi“ which captures a traditional sailing ship at the edge of the Andaman Sea around Thailand. “Musician, Asilah (Morocco)” we see an expertly observed and composed image of a man marketing his wares from atop rich mélange of red and orange textiles in front of a rich white plaster wall. Dalessio’s work speaks of both his deep curiosity about the world – both man and nature…combined with a learned eye as to what makes a great painting. We also see his understanding of the Grand Tour mentality of the 19th Century artists he admires. The paintings from Asia, are a direct nod to orientalist influence of this great generation of aesthetic painters. After 24 years of showing at the Grenning Gallery, our hats are off to Marc Dalessio, for his fortitude and drive, and continued passion for his craft.

We are very pleased to introduce the East End painter Nick Weber (b.1971). I became aware of Weber’s paintings many years ago. He registered in my mind as one of the finest painters working on the East End at the time. I was intrigued, but alas, he had good representation at the time, so I pushed my curiosity about his work aside. I was very pleased when I got word that he had stopped by the gallery last summer with his new baby and mentioned that he might be open to talking about working together. A conversation and several studio visits later, I am very pleased to be opening his first show with Grenning Gallery!

Weber is living and painting in Springs, NY (about a block away from Jackson Pollock’s studio), has been building on and away from his classical training since he moved there in 1995. Weber’s paintings are atmospheric and painterly; figurative and abstract; simple and complex; beautiful and sometimes political. His working process demonstrates a deep understanding of how great images have been made throughout art history. Expertly drawing and painting from life is enough for most artists, but Weber pushes on from there.

In “Hallelujah” we see Weber’s under sung technical craft as he paints Bathsheba holding her cell phone in her hand, waiting for King David’s call. A scant but convincing architectural indication in charcoal of a grand turret in the upper right-hand corner houses the King as he looks down upon Bathsheba. This colorful and rich painting indicates all we need to know about Nick Weber’s work; he is extremely well trained, well read and yet also tuned into contemporary life. This latter point is made within the composition (she’s holding a cell phone) and her look – which is distinctly from here and now. All of this is happening on a canvas that has a gorgeous, bright local sky, dramatically backlighting the narrative. A successful contemporary figure steeped in craft and ancient storytelling: a Grenning Gallery Bullseye!

Grounded in drawing, Weber uses a multi-layered process of drawing, painting, and printing. In an interesting twist, he has originated a new form of mono-printing. To extract the most value out of the time-consuming practice of capturing a perfect likeness of his subjects, Weber decided to paint oil directly onto plastic wrap. He takes this image on the thin layer of plastic wrap and presses it into ongoing abstract compositions, as well as more traditional setting for a portrait or figurative work. As a result, we see the same face or figure cropping up in multiple works, or in the same work multiple time–with varying degrees of vividity. The overall effect is an intriguing blend of classical and contemporary, serious figurative art and whimsical colorful abstraction. Weber is able to weave his natural humanistic tendencies into and onto pure abstraction all the while tapping into an astute observation of his contemporaries and the current tenet of beauty.

Also, it’s fascinating to see “Unknown Legend” and “Queen Jane” side by side. These are two distinct paintings created with the same face, which is only possible because of his new mono printing technique. One is a more traditional portrait –a simple composition with excellent craftsmanship. “Queen Jane”, on the other hand, has the same high-quality portrait of a beautiful young face, however it is surrounded by a luminous haze of color ans her head is adorned with a crown of sorts. The effect feels like we’ve discovered a gorgeous fresco on a newly excavated villa wall in Italy! A 21st century palette of bright (and sometimes neon) color bursts are the only thing indicating it is indeed a 21st century master at work.

In another interesting use of his own mono-print technique, in “Abstract with Helga”, there’s a sea of colorful patterns and strokes, yet there is a single face in the lower right-hand corner, as if lost in this colorful dream. And next to this, we see his pure abstract painting “Abstract 3”, which we find delightful. These pure abstractions were an organic outcropping from the strict and sharply focused business of painting portraits – which was a necessity during the period between committing to a gallery for representation. Hours of focused painting, day in and day out, built up a deep desire in Weber to just let loose on a canvas and paint with bold colors and expressive strokes…. kind of like taking a walk after writing for hours on end. When he explained these paintings to me, I could totally feel the aboriginal artist in him, just wanting to let loose. This honest inspiration with his tasty palette of colors, makes these pure abstractions a visual delight.

Underlying Weber’s work, we sense him investigating themes of the power relationship between the viewer and the viewed as well as the subject’s textured history of struggle, dignity, and strength. The “Joan of Arc” painting is a masterful look at the age old see saw of feminine power and masculine desire. Here Weber casts this contemporary young beauty as a Goddess with the Kate Moss look alike, standing nude at the center of the canvas in the power position, especially compared to his smaller and more tentative stance. She is the boss of everyone and everything, as she appears to be emerging from the fire, commanding the artist in front of her, the musician behind her and she even seems to have the stars and the moon looking down on her and her alone.

In a wonderful discovery, we found a painting of Grenning Gallery’s artist and oft muse “Visions of Johanna” from many years ago. This stunning portrait of Johanna is on a brilliant colorful background which feels as if light is flickering through a dense and colorful garden. This painting shows one of the great muses in her prime – again, Weber’s painting here is honoring the power of her presence and yes, her beauty. In a nod to her strength in motion, Weber paints her figure swimming under water in the dreamscape behind her.

In “Alexandra Leaving” we see his sense of humor, as the beautifully painted figure of a woman, heads off down a bike path clearly set in the shady woods of The Springs. Weber’s surrealist use of gold Moorish patterns along her path seems to set her on Dorothy’s path of self-discovery down the yellow brick road. Again, we also see her power in showing us her back – leaving without even a look back.

Weber presents a colorful oeuvre that is both introspective yet sincerely curious about his surroundings and subjects. A recurring theme that swizzles through his work is that of the muse and the artist, and the woman as goddess. Classical canons of beauty mash up with contemporary images of beauty and youth, set in idyllic East End landscapes, fantastical landscapes from Renaissance paintings, or pure abstraction of color pattern and light. A sense of levity and a wink of humor peek through, as do sudden bursts of color.

Weber has exhibited mostly in the Northeast, with recent exhibitions at Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor, Harper’s Apartment in New York, NY, Guild Hall Museum in East Hampton, NY, Tripoli Gallery in Southampton, NY, and Eric Firestone Gallery in East Hampton, NY. His works are included in significant private collections in the United States and abroad. List of private collectors includes luminaries such as Richard Prince, Lisa de Kooning, Bernard & Almine Ruiz-Piccasso, Betsy Johnson, Knight Landesman, Jennifer Coolidge, Sean Penn, Phil and Shelley Aarons, John McWhinnie, and many others.

Announcing our Exhibition Calendar for the Year

January 13 - March 16: GREENHOUSE Group ShowMarch 17 - March 31: CLOSED for Cleaning/paintingApril 6 - May 5: MARC DALESSIO & NICK WEBERMay 11 - June 9: KELLY CARMODY & EMILY PERSSONJune 15 - July 7: GROUP SHOW Daniela Astone, Terry Elkins, Edward Minoff, & Michael KotasekJuly 13 - August 4: HUNT SLONEM Solo ShowAugust 10 - August 25: DARIUS YEKTAI Solo ShowAugust 31 - September 22: BEN FENSKE Solo ShowSeptember 28 - October 20: GROUP SHOW Sarah Lamb Anthony Mastromatteo, Carl Bretzke, & Viktor ButkoOctober 26 - November 17: GROUP SHOW Steven Levin, Mathias Meinel, Melissa Franklin SanchezNovember 23 - January 12th, 2025: GEMS Annual Holiday Exhibition

Images: Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn at Estremoz Castle, by Marc Dalessio, 2023, 4 paintings Available

The Grenning Gallery is pleased to unveil our next exhibition, Greenhouse. This exhibit will hang from January 13, through March 17th, 2024.

Please join us for an Opening Reception on Saturday, January 13th from 5pm-6:30pm.

The Grenning Gallery is pleased to unveil our next exhibition, Greenhouse, a group exhibition celebrating extensive varieties of flora, and the invention of a structure that allowed us to advance our botanical knowledges. This exhibit will hang from January 13, through March 17th 2024. Please join us for a verdantly lush Opening Reception on Saturday, January 13th from 5pm-6:30pm. Please also stay tuned for an in-gallery discussion led by exhibiting artists Edwina Lucas and Maryann Lucas, as well as local plant experts, who will share insights on their experiences as florists or gardeners, as well as the important benefits native plants have within regional ecosystems. (Lecture Dates TBA).

It’s no surprise that generations of artists have been captivated by nature’s beautiful blossoms, with their wide assortment of shapes, colors, and heft. A single flower can behold serious symbolism, or inspire sensational compositions, yet where do these flowers originate? Each genus is native to a specific region, climate, and soil type. The range of our environment’s climate is what allows for this perpetually endless class of flowers. But how do we have access to plants and flora which weren’t born in our native regions? That praise is due to man’s invention of the Greenhouse (aka: conservatory, hothouse, glasshouse, solarium, etc.).

The first Greenhouses, or as Roman philosopher Pliny called them, specularia, were erected on the Island of Capri around 30 AD, specifically to provide a year-round supply of melons for the Emperor, Tiberius Caesar. This marked man’s innovation to extend plant life in any climate. However, this novelty lost importance as midieval times were long-plagued by wars and illness. It wasn’t until the beginning of the Renaissance that Italians developed the concept of modern greenhouses.

For centuries, floral still lifes were not considered important works of art. Grand allegorical, or historical narrative paintings were seen as the most prestigious genres to patrons; any incorporation of flowers were used simply to bolster the symbolism of the overall painting. It wasn’t until the 16th century that these distinctions changed; realist painters of the Dutch Golden Age elevated florals to a primary subject; and in the 19th Century Impressionists embraced everyday scenes and subjects as worthy of their gaze. In fact, Claude Monet once said “I am following nature without being able to grasp her, I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.”

This exhibition is anchored by the grand “Floral Compositions” from Amy Florence (b. 1989 | London), who has spent the better part of the last three years studying, arranging, and painting flora. Daffodils, peonies, roses, and tulips, are just some of the flowers that can be found in this impressive series of paintings. In “Floral Composition, Summer” Florence invites us into her process, as she places blossoms in assorted vessels; a remainder of yellow roses await their arrangement in their wrappings, as well as pruners resting along the edge of the table. Florence shows us the intense amount of space, time, and care that is needed to maintain a grandiose arrangement of flora like this one.

We get a deeper look into the setting of Florence’s compositions in “Looking towards Bonazza”, where an open window showcases the landscape beyond the still life. The rolling green hills of Tuscany are known for generating beautiful wildflowers, from sunflowers and yellow daisies, to poppies, hyacinths and forget-me-nots. Clementines are also scattered along the tabletop, which are known to grow in the area. Florence portrays a stunning array of native flora and fruits adorning an interior within their homeland.

“Sunflowers”, “Poppies, Chamomile”, and “Spring Wildflowers” are three of the latest florals from Ben Fenske (b. 1978, Minnesota), who lives in Tuscany with Florence. He often wanders the hills near their home, to pick wildflowers for his still life paintings. Fenske invites us into this routine with his moody impressionistic landscape “Wildflowers, Storm”. A variation of greens makes up the majority of the canvas, underlining the vast vegetation of Tuscany. The background is a dark grey-blue sky, with vertically slanting brushstrokes, noting the presence of distant rain. It’s only in the foreground, where Fenske delineates spots of colors amidst the grassy hilltop.

Marc Dalessio (b. 1972, California) is one of the worlds top Plein-Air painters, thus, his modus operandi is to paint things as he sees them, directly on site. This is why we have so many lush landscapes from a variety of regions around the globe. Dalessio has captured it all; wildflowers on the beach in Portugal, grapevines being harvested in Tuscany, a field of yellow lupins in France, and a bush of blue hydrangea in East Hampton. He often paints flowers that are uncut, in the bush they’ve resided in since they were mere buds. “Two Roses” is a fabulous depiction of two buxom blossoms, not neatly arranged in a vessel, but haphazardly existing amidst a jungle of green leaves. He zeroed-in on a rosebush and presents just a small snippet to the viewer. Conversely, Dalessio will focus on beautiful flowers as they adorn buildings or city-sidewalks. For instance, “Bougainvillea in Evora” is a quiet street scene from Portugal. White buildings reflect sunlight and simultaneously cast shadows upon the street; not a single soul is in sight, it’s a peaceful setting. The focal point however, is an eruption of bright fuchsia bougainvillea framing a doorway in the distance. This simple adornment inspired the entire painting, forcing Dalessio to stop and situate his easel.

Nelson Holbrook White (b. 1932, New London, CT) spends half of his year in Italy, so he is known to produce vibrant landscapes of poppy fields. The red poppies, rather than being described by his brush, are hinted at with flicks of his wrist. In the summer months, White returns to the states where he’ll paint at local beaches, which are adorned with bright pink dotted rose bushes. White’s earned confidence is evidenced by his bold use of the palette knife as he lays pure pigment upon pure pigment to share with us his daily communing with nature.

Maryann Lucas (b. 1959, Long Island) lives here in Sag Harbor, and bestows upon the gallery blossoms found within her own garden and local garden centers. Delicate compositions of stoic, buoyant hosta hyacinths, reach upward from their leafy foundations with trumpet shaped blossoms in “Glow Up” and “Ascension Seekers”. In “Magnolia Meditation” Lucas observes the flowers as they begin to flourish on their branches. Magnolias bloom only once a year in the spring or early summer; their splendor is fleeting. The overcast grey-green backdrop connotes that brisk time of year, when the cold is just beginning to break. Pink Magnolias symbolize strength, perseverance, and feminine energy; which when drafted by Maryann Lucas, makes perfect sense.

The apple does not fall far from the tree, as Maryann’s daughter, Edwina Lucas (b. 1991 Long Island) a talented painter in her own right, also finds a muse in flora. Over the years, Edwina has delivered bounties of paintings devoted to the garden in her backyard. Her latest dedications can be seen in “Home Grown Blooms” and “Take a Bow”.

She has also worked en-plein-air in the area, as in “Spirit of the Woods”. Just around the corner from their home, Edwina set her easel up in the preserved woodlands, capturing the natural light as it shines through stalks of trees. A burnt orange ground indicates the presence of fallen leaves, blanketing the earth before winter.

This year, Edwina is re-focusing on flora and fauna against a new thematic backdrop. She juxtaposes her skillfully observed florets in front of notable landscapes painted by the Hudson Valley School. From Thomas Cole to Moran, Lucas keenly draws inspiration from these panoramic masters of the 19th century to correlate with her fresh young blossoms; i.e. Dahlias and a yellow canary, as we see in “Heaven on Earth”.

Harking back to the 16th Century artists from the Dutch Golden Age, contemporary realist painters Steven J. Levin (b. 1964, Minnesota), and Sarah Lamb (b. 1972, Virgina) focus their gaze upon the simple still life. Their finished paintings however, are far from plain; on the contrary, they are opulent celebrations of nature’s striking concoctions. In “Peonies in Glass Vase” Lamb exhibits a grouping of ample blossoms, subtle in coloring, yet round and full of verve. However, their vivacity is not eternal. The proof lies along the wooden tabletop; fallen petals and leaves that didn’t endure their new environment for long. It’s only a matter of time before the rotund blossoms start to wilt, losing volume and vitality. But that inevitable misfortune is a sight the viewer does not have to witness; thanks to Lamb’s perfectly preserved composition in oil paint.

Steven Levin delivers grand portraits of flora, and even vegetables as seen in “Cabbages and Chard”. Some of these still life paintings are subdued, like Lamb’s, as they present the subject alone against a neutral backdrop. Meanwhile, Levin takes his still lifes to another level by adding a landscape as the backdrop, or a pairing of a sentimental item, as can be seen in “Peonies with Locket”. Levin incorporates certain perennials pollinator qualities, by adding fluttering butterflies, which naturally are attracted to flora.

Anthony Ackrill (b.1958, Alaska) takes an allegorical approach to his affinity for nature. From voluptuous portrayals of eve, in a Rousseau-like Garden of Eden to a Botticelli-esque Venus who instead of being birthed from a shell, is an icon of transformation, from tiny tadpole to glorious butterfly. In these paintings, the flora takes a backseat to the figure’s narrative. In “Awakening” our eye is drawn to the buxom beauty reclining with ease on the earths floor, allowing a snake to coil around her wrist. She is the epitome of what it means to be “one with nature”. A magnolia blossom sprouts proudly above her head, growing directly from the branch. A white lily blossoms atop the water’s surface near her feet. A heron drinks from a pool of water. These inclusions are filled with symbolism, bolstering the narrative the figure carries.

Angel Ramiro Sanchez’s (b. 1974, Venezuela) ethereal figuration entitled “Spring (Calabrone)” uses symbolism to highlight the importance of change. We see a woman emerge from a somewhat abstract backdrop -it appears as if she is resting, or seated upon, the horizon. Carefully, she reaches out towards a single bee, an important pollinator within the globes ecosystem. Clearly an homage to man’s fear of change; parallel to natures resilient persistence of change. However, we also see a portrait of one of the most under-respected species on earth, yet a crucial component within the hierarchy of organisms; the honeybee.

Also included are works by Kelly Carmody, Melissa Franklin Sanchez, Tina Orsolic Dalessio, Rachel Personett, Hunt Slonem, Darius Yektai, and introducing, Nick Weber.