Lakeville's Morgan Lehman Gallery is pleased to present a selection of work from three acclaimed New York City based painters: Emilie Clark, Franklin Evans, and Katia Santibañez.

Emilie Clark's paintings resemble the portrayal of an idea; her watercolors refer to a text about carnivorous plants written by nineteenth-century natural historian and botanist, Mary Treat. Solely inspired by Treat's words, Clark paints the dynamic suggested by the text, blurring the line between abstraction and realism. The "plants" she paints are generated by the natural world, but echo an extra terrestrial dreamlike landscape quality. It is obvious that Clark's relationship to these "plants" is very committed. To become even closer to her subjects, Clark has meticulously grown all of the species that Mary Treat has written about, as well as studied them under a microscope. Clark's watercolors have successfully encountered and devoured the words of Mary Treat, beautifully rendering them into her own imaginary world of plants.

Franklin Evans' work evokes a similarly ambiguous place, balancing on a line between painting and drawing, near and far perspectives, and narrative and non-linear spaces. Fantastical forms are displayed to illustrate intersections of incongruous worlds which overlap, invert, extend, and encompass one another. Evans' use of color drips with emotion, sometimes in a chaotic manner, and sometimes in a tranquil one. It is here, in his exploration of his immediate and distant perspectives, and the collision between the two, that his obsessively marked paintings emerge from the vast ground that embodies intuition, intention, and chance.

Katia Santibañez's work is conceptually based on representations of formal gardens seen from above. Recently her projects have developed into an investigation of the relationship between nature, architecture and the mind. Enclosed spaces are laid out; boundaries are drawn by natural elements such as grass, seaweed, rocks and waves, and with the use of repetitive forms and inverse color relationships, the objects become abstract. The grid-like compositions of Santibañez's work are also inspired by the architecture and design of New York City. Nature and architecture are merged into a symbiotic and balanced state through Santibañez's exquisitely precise mark making. By traveling inside these spaces the viewer is intrigued and fascinated by this convergence.

Please join us for the opening reception on Saturday, August 12 from 5-7pm. All three artists will be in attendance. The exhibition will run through Sunday, September 10^th 2006.