A Quotidian Life: Finding Beauty in the Ordinary

Borrowing from the concept of “Genre Painting”, epitomized by Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks” 1942 painting of patrons seated in a diner, visual artists  from Suffolk, Nassau, Brooklyn, and Queens were asked to submit two- or three-dimensional works addressing beauty in the ordinary or commonplace.  However, in this exhibit in addition to the human dynamic, the theme invites artists to also consider the beauty that may be found in the quality of light or color, or the surprise of a repeated form. Submitted works can be in the form of abstract art or of realism such as that depicted in Hopper’s iconic painting.

Exhibition Juror Franklin Hill Perrell is a well-known art historian, curator, and writer. His career at the Nassau County Museum of Art in Roslyn Harbor, New York spanned over twenty years, culminating in the title of Chief Curator. There, he curated over fifty major exhibitions and numerous contemporary shows, including Miro & Calder, Chagall, Picasso, School of Paris, American Realism, Between the Wars, Pop & Op, and Surrealism. Recent curatorial activities include Feast for the Eyes (with art by Lichtenstein, Warhol, Oldenburg and Wesselmann), The Garden Party (with art by Chagall, Rivers, Hockney and Tiffany) and Long Island Collects (with art by Degas, Monet, Miro, Renoir and Matisse) at the Nassau County Museum of Art in Roslyn Harbor, as well as a retrospective of Richard Gachot’s America at the Heckscher Museum in Huntington.