In the Dutchess County Spotlight

The Tivoli Artists Co-op announces a show with two long term members, "Two Perspectives", on view from June 1 to 24. Everyone is invited to meet the artists at the opening reception on Saturday, June 2nd from 6-8pm. The show features a great range of work from both artists. Karl Volk and Richard Lisle have been good friends for a number of years now, but the two artists have very different perspectives about art. Karl is more abstract and loves to paint people and human life and moods, while Richard loves to paint landscapes on location in the great outdoors. The show is an opportunity to see new works by both artists.

Karl, who turns eighty this year, plans a retrospective, with many different styles of paintings. He'll start with early work such as Memories. This is about his and his mother's family life. She came from Austria-Hungary. There's a church behind her; it's not her real church, but symbolic. The male figure is his father from a photograph. There are two children, which represent his sister and him. The couple waving at a boat represents his parents sending him off to Germany from New York Harbor. The small, white figure represents Karl "falling off the face of the earth", so to speak. The two figures in the lower right are Karl with his mother, after he returned from Germany in 1947 at age 14.

Another example of Karl's work is Feathered Cross. The painting was done in the 1990s, with speed and impulse being of value. Masking tape was used to cover areas. Karl likes the results because it deals with the American Indians culture, with a layer of Christianity super-imposed.

Karl studied at Brooklyn College under Mark Rothko, Ad Rheinhardt, and Kurt Seligman. After earning his BA from Brooklyn College, he received an MA from New York University.

Richard's paintings are a wide range of sizes, from 11"x 14" through 18"x 14"; the larger paintings he often completes on location. He'll also create large murals, which are painted in the studio from smaller works. Frederick Church and other Hudson River School of Art painters used this same method of creation. It was common to see them painting on area hillsides. However, they didn't finish their paintings outdoors. They'd bring their small field studies back to the studio to complete a larger piece to sell. It was not until the late 1800s that a second wave of artists, the Impressionists, started selling their field studies. Richard's paintings are from many locations, including the Hudson Valley, Yosemite, Maine, and Connecticut.

Richard studied art under Don Stone, an artist listed in the National Academy.

Tivoli Artists Co-op and Gallery is located at 60 Broadway in Tivoli. Gallery hours are Friday, from 5-9pm, Saturday, 1-9pm, and Sunday, 1-5pm. Call (845) 757-COOP or visit www.TivoliArtistsCo-op.com