Reality at risk in new gallery exhibition

Illusions, an exhibition featuring four artists who, through a variety of means, cause erroneous perceptions of reality, opens Thursday, March 19, in the Schick Art Gallery. An opening night reception is planned from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., and the exhibition remains on view through April 19. A gallery talk with the artists will take place at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 9, in the Schick. The public is welcome to all events.

Artists whose work will be showcased are as follows:

Linda Cross, an artist from the Hudson River Valley, who makes textural?even sculptural?paintings from a variety of layered media, including paper, acrylic paint, Styrofoam, and found objects on panel. Her abstract works convey a tension between the artist?s personal vision and suggested elements from the landscape. She is widely exhibited, most recently at the John Davis Gallery, New York City, and Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, N.Y., among others. Her work is included in the collections of Syracuse University; California State University; Pepsico, Inc.; and Western Electric Company, New York.

Photographer Brian Peterson also makes artworks that address personal meaning vis- -vis the natural world. His series titled ?I Sing the Body? superimposes self-portraits with elements from the landscape. Peterson is senior curator at the James A. Michener Art Museum in Philadelphia. His work is held in numerous public and private collections, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Denver Art Museum and the Library of Congress, among others. Most recently he has exhibited at the University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, Va.; and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

New York artist Martin Weinstein founded Art in General 1981 with his wife, artist Teresa Liszka. Weinstein?s figurative paintings, images of his wife in the landscape of their Hudson River home, may seem traditional at first. However, because of his vision and surface, they are anything but typical. Like the other artists in this exhibition, he works in layers. Weinstein paints on multiple acrylic sheets, shifting the viewer?s perspective, often giving his images a paradoxical effect and deep space. Weinstein?s work is held in numerous collections, including the Gallerie Jean Claude Bellier, Paris; Chase Manhattan Bank, New York; and Frendel, Brown and Weissman, New York; among others. His most recent exhibitions include the Allen Gallery, the Walter Wickiser Gallery, and AFP Galleries, all in New York; and the Hillstrom Museum of Art, Minnesota.

Deborah Zlotsky is an associate professor in the Department of Art at the College of Saint Rose in Albany. This exhibition will include a series of her loose graphite drawings on mylar. Zlotsky?s subject matter is elusive, imagery between animal and plant life, seeming to morph before the eyes. She says, ?The conflicts and coincidences within the light, space and forms come out of a process of negotiating between real and imagined experiences. For me, drawing is about making invisible forces visible.? Her most recent exhibits include Washington Square East Galleries, New York University; Delevan Art Gallery, Syracuse, N.Y.; and Lana Santorelli Gallery, New York City; among others. Her work can be found in numerous public collections including Progressive Insurance, Albany Institute of History and Art, and the William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut.

The Illusions exhibition, reception, and related lecture are free and open to the public. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 1 to 4:30 p.m. weekends. For details, click here to visit our website.