Park Row Gallery News

"Seasons Observed," an exhibition of recent paintings by artist Matt Bialer, will be on view at Park Row Gallery May 23 - June 23. An opening reception will be held Saturday, May 26, 4 - 6 p.m.

Bialer, a literary agent in New York City and long-time street photographer, has combined his love of the Berkshires and his affinity for the outdoors in a series of watercolor paintings that focus on the light and mood of the changing seasons of the Berkshire hills.

The show comprises 20 paintings, each inspired by his travels through the Berkshires either on foot or on skis, and which bear witness to the seasons' effect on the beauty of the landscape.

"I started to paint because my wife Lenora and I spend a lot of time in the Berkshires in western Massachusetts. Lenora and I drive up from Brooklyn with our daughter Isabel every weekend in the summer and about once a month otherwise. We love New York, but the Berkshires have added a whole other dimension to our lives. We do things there that we could never do in New York. In addition to hiking and cross country skiing, we also attend outdoor concerts and plays. Lenora does yoga, makes pots and presses flowers. I always loved being there but felt the need for a creative outlet. I didn't want to photograph there because my photography is an urban experience. Black and white street photography possesses a rich, urban tradition in much the same way jazz does. As much as I admire some landscape photography, I have absolutely no desire to do it. It is too technical for my talent and taste, and it requires big, expensive cameras to do the genre justice. For me, photography is about immediacy and energy. I love prowling the streets and 'hunting' for photographs."

Bialer said that his interest in watercolor began in earnest eight years ago as a way to have a creative outlet completely separate from the one he enjoyed in the city. He sought out lessons from Great Barrington, Mass, watercolorist Pat Hogan, and credits her guidance for shaping his current interpretation of the medium.

"I think I chose watercolor as a medium because of its immediacy," he said. "When I began working in color I felt liberated. I was never going to be producing photographic looking paintings and really it was the spontaneity I was after; the happy accident. That's true in street photography also."

In addition to the similarities with photography, Bialer has also rediscovered his poetic voice in watercolor.

"Though I have only been watercolor painting for eight years, I bring a lot of creative experience to the easel, so to speak. I studied poetry writing as an undergraduate at Vassar College and at various prestigious poetry workshops, and find there are many parallels to creating poetry. Good poetry often uses a line or image that has a relation to another line, word, or image in the poem."

To see more of Matt Bialer's work visit his Web site at www.mattbialer.com or the Brooklyn Watercolor Society at www.bws.org.