Dan Brown was unhappy with the way many local art
associations and schools assemble group shows. "They typically limit each artist to one piece," he says.
He thought he could do better. Last year, the Dix Hills sculptor asked a few colleagues to participate in a show and recommend others "at least as good as them," he says. Each of the 14 artists got a 14-foot-wide space - on walls 10 feet high - to display their works. That way, viewers can see each artist's range and "really get to know that person," he says.
The Long Island Professional Artists' Showcase was a success. It starts its second show this Tuesday at C.W. Post in Brookville, with a portion of all sales benefiting the college's library association.
Brown's own work, in bronze and other materials, is representational - as are most pieces in the exhibit. He often depicts "animals or people in motion, horses leaping or a cougar charging." Like the show's other artists, he has won many awards. And, like some of them, he has a piece in the Smithsonian - in his case, a sculpture of a dog at the National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C.
Also like many other participants, Brown, 84, is pursuing his second career. A Harvard MBA, he was an Ethan Allen furniture company executive and owned four stores on Long Island before retiring in 1982. He still takes lessons at the Art League of Long Island in Dix Hills, he says, and plans to continue them "till the day I die."
Donna Harlow Moraff of West Islip, who teaches at the Art League, is among the show's painters. She worked at a law firm until 1995: "We used to be grown-ups," she says of artists with previous careers.
The showcase, she says, is "like the best art show you could see in New York City." However, she adds, "We're a little unusual, because we mostly do realism," which has been somewhat out of fashion. Her own work, in pastels, watercolor, acrylic and oils, depicts any subject where she likes "the way light hits something," she says. She generally charges $800 to $4,000, more if she doesn't want to part with a piece.
Marvin Mattelson of Great Neck, whose portrait of New York's Cardinal Edward Egan won first place in a major national competition, will show portraits borrowed from people who now own them, he says. He'll accept new commissions, he says, for which he charges $5,000 to $100,000. His work is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Portrait Gallery. Mattelson's previous career was in illustration and included more than 20 covers for Time magazine.
Mattelson thinks realism's popularity is "definitely on the upswing.... People are tired of things where the remark is, 'My 3-year-old could do that.'"
Second Annual Long Island Professional Artists' Showcase, Hutchins Gallery, B. Schwartz Memorial Library, C.W. Post campus of Long Island University, 720 Northern Blvd., Brookville, March 25-April 19, 2-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, artists reception 1-4 p.m. April 6, free.
Passion for poetry
On the national stage, April is Poetry Month. But on Long Island, every month is filled with poetry.
One active venue for the ongoing celebration is Molloy College in Rockville Centre, where Barbara Novack, who has taught creative writing at Molloy for 16 years and became its writer-in-residence in 2005, hosts a poetry series.
"I'm very, very impressed with the level of poetry here," says Novack, who also teaches writing workshops at Long Island libraries, though she lives in Laurelton, Queens. "Everyone is really passionate."
Her events generally feature a reading by an established poet - next Sunday it will be Graham Everett, an Adelphi University professor and founding editor and publisher of Street Magazine and Street Press - followed by an open reading where attendees can recite their own poems. A May 4 event, celebrating an anthology called "Songs of Seasoned Women," won't include the open session, she says, because at least 28 contributors are expected. In the fall, she'll add a prose series, with Freeport novelist Tom Phelan up first.
"It's a congenial atmosphere," she says. "Everyone feels very welcome." The room is light and airy, and she arranges chairs in a semicircle "for a nice cozy feel." People are often surprised at how "wonderfully accessible" today's poetry is, she says. "It's a joy. It really is." And refreshments are served. "It's the kind of afternoon where people linger. They get another cup of coffee. They don't want to leave."
Poetry Events at Molloy College, Multi-Purpose Room, 2nd floor, Wilbur Arts Center, Molloy College, 1000 Hempstead Ave., Rockville Centre, free, 3 p.m. March 30 featuring Graham Everett, 3 p.m. May 4 featuring "Songs of Seasoned Women." Call 516-678-5000 for directions, ext. 6468 for information.
Poetic tribute
More poetry news: A reading on April 12 honors Siv Cedering, who died Nov. 17 at age 68. Cedering, who lived in Sagaponack, was a poet, translator, sculptor, painter, book illustrator and songwriter. "She was a life force for many of us who write poetry and make art of all kinds," says former Suffolk County Poet Laureate Daniel Thomas Moran, who hosts the event. About 20 admirers will read her poems at the free event, which starts 4 p.m. and ends with a reception at Chancellors Hall, Southampton Campus of Stony Brook University, 631-632-7100.
WITH LENNON ON LI
May Pang lived with John Lennon for 18 months, beginning in 1973, during a break in his marriage to Yoko Ono. Pang wrote about it previously in "Loving John," and now she's presenting photographic proof in "Instamatic Karma: Photographs of John Lennon." In the last chapter, "sunset at the hamptons, new york, 1975," Pang writes about their frequent visits to the East End, including staying with Mick Jagger in Montauk and finding a cottage for sale there. They were about to put a binder on it when, apparently, Lennon and Ono decided to reconcile. Pang speaks at Book Revue, 313 New York Ave., Huntington, 7 p.m. Wednesday, 631-271-1442, bookrevue.com
LONG ISLAND READS
Chang-rae Lee’s "Aoft" is this year’s selection for Long Island Reads, sponsored by the Nassau and Suffolk public library systems. Lee - whose novel is about a retired Long Island landscaper who flies his own small plane and tries to deal with a complicated family life - will speak at the Farmingdale Public Library, 116 Merritts Rd., at 2 p.m. April 12. He’ll also sign books, which may be purchased there. For free tickets (two per person), call 516-292-8920 ext. 236 in Nassau, 631-286-1600 ext. 1366 in Suffolk. For information on Long Island Reads, including library activities, a reading guide and a recorded interview, visit longislandreads.org and longislandreads.blogspot.com.
