I feel connected to school kids more than ever now that, like them, I walk around with a back pack. I plan to live out of my pack for the next month and the process of outfitting it with the things I feel I must have, while staying under a self imposed weight, has been all consuming. It will be a huge relief to walk away with those ten pounds and separate myself from the rest.
The biggest item on my checklist of things to do before we leave was the preparation for a show of my father’s work at the Geisel Gallery on May 1st, a show that opens days after we return. The director of that gallery, Jean Geisel, bought four paintings directly from father. He was standing out front, painting en plein air, while Bausch & Lomb was constructing their downtown headquarters when she met him. When my father passed, leaving a tall stack of watercolors, I approached galleries and she jumped at the chance to show his work. Rick Muto at Axom Gallery offered to show Leo’s paintings as well and I was preparing for that when Rochester Contemporary made their offer. RoCo featured Leo’s work in their 2017 Rochester Biennial. That show concentrated on his downtown Rochester paintings.
The Geisel show is an overview and features paintings like the one above from Cape Cod. Thirty one paintings are framed and wrapped, ready for delivery. We worked out a layout, printed the wall tags and wrote an artist statement. Spending time with Leo’s paintings has been an incredible gift. I’m left marveling at his ability to keenly observe and artfully demonstrate the subjects that caught his interest. The opening is on First Friday, May 4th from 6-8pm at the Geisel Gallery. Mark your calendars.
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