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Cherry Blossom Visions: Works by Charles Gustina and David Wander
Saturday, April 5 to Sunday, May 11, 2008
To mark the beginning of the Hanami cherry blossom viewing season, the Steinhardt Conservatory Gallery features two artists inspired by Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Japanese cherry blossom collection. Charles Gustina creates wall-sized cherry blossom murals composed of a mosaic of color photographs. In contrast, David Wander uses a "soft focus" on cherry trees to create his rich and expressive oil paintings and pastel works on paper.
Charles Gustina Selected Works:
Folia 3 (Blue) | view
Folia 3 (Red) | view
Spring 4 | view
Artist Statement: Folia
The Folia series grows out of my desire to share the delight I've taken in the many gardens I have visited, at a scale that envelopes the viewer. This body of work assembles individual images of foliage and blossoms into wall-size bursts of scintillating color.
These photos invite comparisons to painting; they have been likened to pointillism or impressionism. My background in interior design is evident in the work's relation to the exhibition space, and in its references to chintz run amok. Eleanor Heartney has written that the work "remind[s] us that transformations of the natural world through art and technology in turn transform the way we perceive the world."
David Wander Selected Works:
Blossom | view
Park Walk | view
Red Tree | view
Artist Statement
The work in this show is inspired by time spent over many years walking among, observing, and sketching the cherry trees in Brooklyn Botanic Garden. I have painted landscapes in many different environments, though I am always drawn to the specific and vivid colors of a particular place. The yellows of New Mexican aspen trees in autumn and the purples of the south of France in lavender season have both been subjects of my paintings. The multicolored rows of flowers in the north of Holland during tulip season and the shades of magenta and pink in my own New York backyard in the spring snow of cherry blossoms are all equally compelling.
My work in the Garden depicts the intense beauty of each stage of the trees' blossom cycle, from the green and pink buds on bare branches to the blanket of fallen pink and white petals on bright green early grass. Sometimes the trees stand as sentinels bearing witness to the activity around them. Sometimes they move like flowing dancers. The work is painted on canvas textured to approximate the feel of a city sidewalk, which contrasts with the softness and beauty of the Garden. The broken and rough texture enables me to confront the delicate beauty of the petals, and together, the opposites allow the viewer to perceive the beauty of time and constant change.