Safe Harbors of the Hudson Ann Street Gallery presents It’s OK to be a Realist. This new exhibition highlights a group of sixteen artists whose work demonstrates the range and depth of the Realist tradition while adhering to traditional artistic values.

As an installation, It’s OK to be a Realist provides a survey of representational works showcasing young emerging talents to established practitioners who offer an expansive vision of a new contemporary Realism movement with an array of stylistic approaches that demonstrate the enduring interest and diversity of representational art. The works in this exhibit feature a plethora of themes with exemplary paintings, drawings, and sculptures on the cutting edge of a new Realist movement.

Realism started in mid-nineteenth century France, as an art movement that was based on accurate observations and descriptive realism draw from life to produce an illusion of reality. The nineteenth century artist Courbet headed this movement and crafted the Realist Manifesto, which claimed to represent the common people and their circumstances, encourage artistic freedom and self-expression, while looking to nature as their source of inspiration.

Presently, these new movements of Realist artists are returning to those traditional concepts of the earlier academies and expressions of reality. Their works are bound by a shared common aesthetic, one associated with the traditional values and techniques of the old masters. More importantly, their works are expressions of personal human experiences and timely subject matter which deserves merit not only for their technical skill, but the artist’s ability to universalize those experiences.

Artists featured in the exhibit include: Elana Baziz, Craig Blietz, Kevork Cholakian, Diana Corvelle, Cara DeAnelis, Matthew Kinney, Ryan Michiels, Dora C. Natella, Elisabeth Nickles, Patricia Parker, Alaina Plowdrey, Jason John, Jeremy Plunkett, Rachel Rickert, Jamie Bates Slone, Cory Spraker, Pol Turgeon and Jennifer Young.

The exhibition is on view through Saturday, May 2, 2015.
It’s OK to be a Realist was curated by Virginia Walsh, Director and Curator of Exhibitions at Ann Street Gallery, a project of Safe Harbors of the Hudson. The Ann Street Gallery specializes in contemporary, emerging and established artists and provides quality exhibitions, programs and events that encourage a greater understanding and appreciation of contemporary art across cultures and among generations.

For more information contact Virginia Walsh at (845) 784-1146 or vwalsh@annstreetgallery.org.

The gallery is located at 104 Ann Street, Newburgh, NY.

Gallery Hours:
Wednesday and Thursday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
(closed for lunch 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.)
Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Newburgh Last Saturdays of each month 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.