Carrie Haddad Gallery is pleased to present our fall exhibition, titled Echoes, with works by Frank DePietro, Louise Laplante, Vincent Pomilio, Olan Quattro, Ralph Stout, and Joseph Wheaton. The upstairs gallery will feature new abstractions by Jenny Nelson. The exhibit opens on October 11 and will remain on view through December 1. All are welcome to attend the artist reception on October 12 from 5-7 p.m.

The contemporary realist painter Frank DePietro is in constant dialogue with the natural world. Working from photographs, the artist renders leaves, stems, branches, petals, and other plant matter in large-scale paintings that allow for close observation of their brilliant complexities – a testament to the beauty inherent to plant life as well as DePietro’s refined technique. A lifelong Pennsylvanian, he holds degrees from Bloomsburg University and Moore College of Art & Design and has been exhibited across the United States.

With an emphasis on materiality and history, the mixed-media works of Louise Laplante are at once dramatic and playful. She draws silhouettes of recognizable objects, animals, and archetypes in solid blocks of color atop vintage print media – including, but not limited to, magazine articles and sheet music – making for striking vignettes. Laplante studied fine art at SUNY Albany and College of New Rochelle.

The abstract paintings of Vincent Pomilio can be hypnotizing in their dense, intricate organization. The artist applies eye-popping color in hard-edged strips and swaths, engaging the pattern-seeking brain in visual gymnastics. In addition to acrylic, the works on view are made with Venetian plaster and wax, allowing Pomilio to conjure an arresting range of textures across the picture space. He holds an MFA from NYU and has been exhibited widely, including recent solo shows at Hal Bromm Gallery in New York, NY and the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Center in Kingston, NY.

In her first exhibition with Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson-based artist Olan Quattro will share an array of narrative collages that draw from “memory, place and mythological folklore”. Her wittily sophisticated works mostly center on female protagonists. These characters engage in activities and adventures – whether they’re sailing, gardening, or traversing a fox-filled forest – without ever losing their sense of poise and elegance. Quattro studied at Marlboro College and Florida State University.

Joseph Wheaton is a master of sculpture, as is evidenced by his simple-while-chic creations in oxidized metal. A great admirer of early Asian ceramics and printmaking, his forms can be likened to calligraphic mark-making, albeit in three dimensions. He imbues these pieces with a certain complexity, making for objects that the artist himself describes as “beautiful yet menacing, threatening yet delicate”.

A former computer programmer and inventor, Ralph Stout creates lively abstractions using a spare graphic alphabet. His recent series of black-and-white drawings are like records of pure energy, signified in dynamic lines and contrasting values. Stout graduated from Bucknell University in 1960 with a degree in mathematics, yet always found time to dedicate to his artistic practice.

In the upstairs gallery, Jenny Nelson will present a group of new abstractions on canvas and paper. While her works are markedly non-representational, her practice is rooted in painting from life; rather than explicitly rendering objects, Nelson improvises with the aim of creating “the feeling of real space”. An alumna of the Maine College of Art and Bard College, Nelson has exhibited her work regionally and nationally.