DFN Gallery is pleased to present East Oak Lane, an exhibition of new oil paintings by Chuck Connelly.  Connelly depicts the flesh and bones of domestic life; that is to say the stone, wood, brick and material objects, the counterpart to the people and experiences that make houses homes.  Connelly renders his monumental portraits of Victorian homes and intimate interior tableaus with both warmth and grandeur, naiveté and a nod, and a tint of humor.  With his exuberant hand, Connelly has anthropomorphized the homes and their wares, in the way that habitats and objects can become vibrant characters in our memory.

The vitality and pith that enliven paintings such as 6703 North 12th Street and 6602 North 12th Street, are activated by Connelly’s visceral brushwork reminiscent of Soutine, Burchfield, and Van Gogh.  Connelly says of these emotive works, “I want people to feel like they’ve already been there; I want them to feel like they are at home.”  In the catalogue essay which accompanies the exhibition, Atanasio di Felice writes that Connelly “paints these houses almost as though they’re organic, springing mushroom-like from the earth.”  Indeed the unique specimens, titled scientifically with mere addresses, are both beautiful and curious.  6800 North 13th Street, a large painting of a pink-roofed white house, swells on the canvas with softness and solidity.  Staircase, a nautilus-like staircase both wayward and eccentric speaks of a psychological space.  The trompe l'oeil painting Cupboard depicts, with deadpan, stack of plates and cups imbued with personality and patience.  Taken together, the paintings in East Oak Lane create a neighborhood with few human figures but full of spirit and energy.

Chuck Connelly received his B.F.A. from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia.  This is Connelly’s second one-person show at DFN, and his work has been exhibited in galleries and museums internationally for over twenty years. He was previously represented in New York by Annina Nosei and Lennon Weinberg.  Connelly’s paintings are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, J.B. Speed Museum in Louisville, the Portland Art Museum in Oregon, and numerous other public and private institutions. 

A reception will be held for the artist on
Thursday, March 8th from 6 to 8 PM

To view entire exhibition click here.