An exhibit of new paintings by the New York artist Simon Gaon ran at the the Nabi Gallery in February and March of 2009. The work is still in inventory and may be viewed by appointment.

            The paintings include a suite of large canvases from the artist’s Sunset on a Lake series, variations on a theme he has pursued over the past two years in which expressionist renderings of light and water take on a texture and intensity that verges on abstraction.

Sunset on a Lake II, 50x54, 2008

             Also on view is a selection of Gaon’s characteristically expressive portraits.  Their subjects are personalities he encounters on his travels and in the cafes and streets of New York—vagabonds, prostitutes, rabbis, Upper West Side philosophers, or, in a mirror, himself.

Self-Portrait, 36x24, 2008

            A native New Yorker who spent many of his formative years in Paris, Gaon now divides his time between homes and studios on the Upper West Side and on Shelter Island.  He has shown in over 100 solo and group exhibitions in this country and abroad.  His work is especially popular in Europe and has been featured in recent years by prominent galleries in Germany, Holland, and Sweden. 

            About his work, the artist has said:  “While I’m a devoted figurative artist, I also like to indulge in some of the techniques used by non-objective painters simply to have an adventure with color and pigment.  I like exploring different possibilities including accidents.  However, my main purpose has always been to create a mood and a sense of nature.”