spheris gallery | 59 South Main St | Hanover, NH | 603.640.6155

January 14, 2005 For Immediate Release Contact: Cynthia Reeves Ray Ruseckas, Malcolm Wright Open Show “Chalk & Clay” NEW YORK, NY... The exhibition entitled “Chalk and Clay” opens at Reeves Contemporary on 535 West 24 th St. in Chelsea on January 20 th with an artists’ reception between 6-8 p.m. The exhibition features the pastels of Ray Ruseckas and the subtle clay forms of Malcolm Wright. It runs through February 19 th. Ray Ruseckas has been developing this latest series of pastels over the past year, going out with long time friend Wolf Kahn to work in the fields and valleys of northern New England. In early December, Ruseckas lost all of that work in a fire that destroyed the building where he had had his studio for over twenty years. Despite this loss, Ruseckas has been able to develop a handful of new pieces over the past month, going out with Eric Aho on the mild winter days to pastel in the Connecticut River Valley region of Vermont and New Hampshire. The resulting work is a beautiful documentation of the soft early winter in that northern climate. Ruseckas’ palette lends itself naturally to these views and scenes of the woods and riverways – he goes back again and again to gentle mauves and peach tones, ochre, and a broad array of quiet greens and grays. The moodiness and subtle mystery of each piece relates directly back to the landscape as he experiences it, sitting on a hillside in a December wind, watching the weather move over the river valley. He tends to layer up the pastel, adding level after level of subtle tones that create a remarkable depth of field. Often using handmade papers with long fibers and visible tooth, he makes good use of those attributes by literally grinding the pigments into the papers and building up off the surface. The resulting tactile quality and surface texture add dimension to the work. Ruseckas is a reluctant artist at best, and does not create more than a dozen or so works typically in a year. This is a rare opportunity, made more so by the loss of the studio and precious work from the summer. He lives and works in southern Vermont, and has shown his pastels consistently in New York and New England, including the Work on Paper Fair at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City each March. Reeves Contemporary is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10- 5:30 p.m. and by appointment. For information contact the gallery at 212 714 0044.