Park Row Gallery Hosts New

Works By Michael Zelehoski

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Michael Zelehoski, “Summer Girl,” 2008, mixed media with wood and encaustic, 24 by 38 inches.

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PARK ROW GALLERY MICHAEL ZELEHOSKI IN SOLO EXHIBITION AT PARK ROW GALLERY, w/1 cut

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CHATHAM, N.Y. — An ambitious solo exhibition of new work by Michael Zelehoski is on view at Park Row Gallery through August 2, with a special reception on Saturday, July 5, from 4 to 6 pm. The reception is open to the public.

Zelehoski grew up in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, but traveled to South America at the age of 20, and spent nearly six years pursuing his vocation as a young artist, including an apprenticeship with the late Chilean sculptor Felix, Maruenda. Zelehoski now lives and works from his studio in Pittsfield, Mass.

Zelehoski’s recent mixed-media work includes abstract and figurative compositions created from old pieces of wood and furniture that have been worn and weathered to reveal the passage of time. It is as if he sparks a dialogue between the object and its history. It is not surprising then that figures enter into his work, and that they tend to be archetypal.

While some of the work has a photographic quality, the technique used by the artist is sculptural in nature and quite primitive. He literally carves the figures into the assembled wooden plane with gouge, and then burns the surface of the carved wood into blackened shadows, adding layers of encaustic wax to build lighter tones that create a chiaroscuro effect.

Zelehoski has exhibited his work regionally and internationally, and it is in private and public collections in the United States and abroad, including The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, Mass., and La Nacion and the North American Cultural Institute in Santiago, Chile.

 Park Row Gallery is at 2 Park Row. For further information, 518-392-4800 or www.parkrowgallery.com.