b.j. spoke preps for two fall exhibits

b. j. spoke gallery will open two exhibitions in October: “The Body of Earth,” a solo exhibition by guest artist Jana Kris, and a large gallery member show.

Both exhibits can be viewed during gallery hours from Tuesday, Oct. 3, to Sunday, Oct. 29. The gallery is located at 299 Main St. in Huntington.

About her work, Kris states, “Earth is Woman. Woman is Earth. This primal connection is one that I believe most women sense within themselves. The Body of Earth series came to me while I was living and painting in Tucson, Arizona. After leaving New York to live in the American Southwest, the palette of my work became primarily influenced by the colors of bare stone and sky. I was utterly captivated by red-hued mesas and the ancient cavernous folds of the Canyon Lands.”

Kris continues, “The Body of Earth is heavily inspired from my desire to reclaim the female image from the disconnected and often damaging representations that are so pervasive in advertising and mass media. In these paintings, there is joy in the movement and flow of the land. There is dance in the richly muted tones of the woven bodies of women that curve and bend to create their world. They think and feel and are alive, while actually being the structure of everything… And always there is a reminder within their canvas universe that something greater exists.”

b. j. spoke gallery artists included in the October members exhibit include: Richard Aiello (digital painter), Phyllis Baron (abstract painter), John Bell (metal sculptor), Katherine Criss (surreal artist) Liz Ehrlichman (painting and mono prints), Barbara Grey (painting and photography), Barbara V. Jones (drip abstractions), Karen Kirshner (abstract paintings), Robert Dorval (photography) Kevin Larkin (abstract expressionism), Joanne Leftsky (floral abstraction), Lili Marline (abstract expressionist), Diane Marxe (bronze animal sculptures), Lorraine Carol (abstract expressionism), Nicolette Pach (fabric fantasies), Gia Schifano (realistic painter), Cindy Sheather (abstract landscapes), Constance Wain (naturalist painter) and Bert Winsberg (impressionist painter).