Rey Milici – Nan Hill – Robert Brooks – Randall Deihl
Contemporary realism in the Pioneer Valley was nurtured in the 1970’s in the wake of the New York School, a time of abstraction and deconstruction. An exhibit in 1984 of 6 emerging painters (Gregory Gillespie, Frances Cohen Gillespie, Scott Prior, Jane Lund, Robin Freedenfeld, and Randall Deihl) would reverberate and bring national attention to the realist scene in Western Massachusetts and the new “Valley Realists.” The movement influenced and inspired contemporaries and followers alike and, although their individual goals often varied, some shunning photographic accuracy in favor of a more subjective reality, and others allowing their subject to speak for itself. R. Michelson Galleries is pleased to present an exhibition of four major voices who have carried on this tradition and who continue to explore the boundaries of what realism in art can offer the viewer.
Artist reception: Friday September 8th, 6-8pm. In conjunction with Northampton’s Arts Night Out