NEW YORK, NY.- Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery presents a solo exhibition of new urban landscape paintings by Matthew Pierog entitled Night Moves – New York at Night. Pierog explores the most elementary compositions by juxtaposing a foreshortened picture plane with monumental elements including renderings of BMW SUVs and building exteriors. Light and time stand still within these paintings. They are isolated studies of the innate beauty of a single object. They redefine, for the viewer, what that object means to them. The simplest of the everyday becomes an elegant exploration in mood and space. Pierog approaches New York City with a topical view and a unique perspective.

Pierog’s painting entitled Lincoln Center at Midnight explores one of the cultural components of New York City life. Although simple in composition, the paintings explore light in addition to form. The effect of ethereal illumination is made possible by his classical use of color to create light diffusion with the use of oil paint. Through his technical execution, Pierog clearly renders the magnitude of Lincoln Center at Midnight utilizing precise depth and color to create a unique and uncomplicated composition.

In Art Dealer’s Auto II, Pierog’s color juxtaposition is seen on his black BMW convertible through his various shades of white and blue used to illuminate the car’s beauty and personify the vehicle. The BMW is depicted against a black and white background, which enhances perspective and creates depth for the viewer. His use of the single vehicle, as the main focal point, only amplifies his ability to create a stimulating three dimensional world through the simplification of subject matter. These paintings, although relatively small at 8 x 10 inches, combine formal elements to create unique visual images.

Pierog’s innate talent was perfected through his studies at the University of Hartford’s School of Art, where he obtained a B.F.A in 1997. Prior to this degree, he spent time studying English history and literature abroad at Oxford University in England. This is his fourth solo exhibition at Bernarducci Meisel Gallery.

Also on view is Valentine, a gallery group exhibition of Realist artists in which each work of art alludes to the tradition of Valentine’s Day. Hubert DeLartigue’s painting of a bright smile, entitled Sourire, highlights the exhibition. The smile, belonging to a young woman and outlined by vibrant red lipstick, is welcoming and sly beckoning the viewer to inquire further. The artist emphasizes its importance by cropping the painting to only include the smile. Not only is every detail meticulously painted the subject matter playfully evokes the photograph. DeLartigue’s color palate, soft and muted, pays homage to the romanticized spirit of Valentine’s Day and is pervasive throughout all his paintings.

Since a customary gift for Valentine’s Day is a box of candy, Valentine also includes candy paintings by Roberto Bernardi such as Il Calice dei Colore. The black background of the painting illuminates the colorful assortment of candy sitting in a transparent purple bowl. Before painting every wrinkle of light on the wrappers, grain of sugar on the treats, and swirls of each lollipop on the canvas, Bernardi spends countless hours arranging the candy to create the perfect composition and lighting. The only disappointment here is that you cannot eat this candy because it will forever remain on the canvas.

The exhibition also highlights candy paintings by Roberto Bernardi such as Il Calice dei Colore. Bernardi’s highly realistic representation of candy includes not just the candy itself but the wrappers around the candy and the bowls or glass jars they rest inside. Bernardi’s dexterity is also represented in his backgrounds that show an abstracted light diffusion. Alluding to the metaphorical sweetness of the Hallmark holiday – sweets and smiles go well together.

Sharon Moody’s newest trompe l’oeil comic book painting, entitled Marry Me, Mary Jane also highlights the exhibition. The scene from the Spiderman comic book series depicts a shy and nervous Peter Parker proposing to a skeptical Mary Jane. The pages of the comic book appear to flutter in the wind as they remain painted on the stark white canvas.

Also on view are paintings by Gallery artists; still-lifes of delicious pastries by Luigi Benedicenti, industrial landscapes by Paul Caranicas, beautiful beach goers by Hilo Chen, portraits of animals by Ester Curini, romantic beachscapes by David Dewey, rustic cityscapes by Gus Heinze and Charles Jarboe, portraits of young Korean women by Park Hyung Jin, reflections in the surfaces of vintage automobiles by Cheryl Kelley, mythical scenes by Leonard Koscianski, nudes by Mel Ramos, paintings of Venice by Raphaella Spence, watercolors of historical American moments by Susan Sykes, bohemian nudes by Bernardo Torrens, expansive cityscapes by Nathan Walsh, and juxtapositions by Doug Webb. In addition there also are hand painted bronze sculptures by John DeAndrea and painted wood sculpture by Randall Rosenthal.

Many of the artists in Valentine are included in two traveling museum exhibitions; Photorealism Revisited – on view through April 21 at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art in Oklahoma City, OK and Hyperrealism 1967 – 2012 – on view through March 10 at the Kunsthalle Tübingen in Tübingen, Germany. Photorealism Revisited will travel this Fall to the Butler Institute of Art in Youngstown, Ohio. Hyperrealism 1967-2012 will open on March 22 at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, Spain and remain on view through June 9, 2013.