BOSTON, MASS.- Gallery NAGA presents new paintings by Joseph Barbieri, feather you like it or not.

Joseph Barbieri: Feathers and Flora runs from April 1 through April 30 at Gallery NAGA.

As he has for the past several years, Barbieri presents both streams of his paintings: gentle landscapes and colorful animal portraits. The landscapes, tender in effect, are really a travelogue of the past two years. When re-visiting, as he often does, Italy, Antigua, and Maine, Barbieri spends most of his time painting his surroundings en plein air.

One piece that resulted from a recent trip to the coast of Maine, A Life Worth Living, depicts two houses, a rocky coast, a dappled blue sky and a black and white dog lolling in the shade. Barbieri has long been a fan of Fairfield Porter and his piece is based on a painting with a similar setting done by Porter, entitled Island Farmhouse. Where Porter’s interpretation is dramatic with crisp, flattened blocks of colors and light, Barbieri’s is gentler and more delineated with shadows and light.

Barbieri’s “animals” resemble humans in their leisurely activities – reading, singing, painting, smoking, strolling in the garden. Guillaume depicts a fit creature dressed in khakis, white tennis shoes, and a blue polo shirt in the midst of archery practice situated in front of a stand of cypress trees. First Time in Maine portrays a creature wearing a three piece striped blue suit, holding a cane, with a pocket square and matching hat –presumably transported from a city setting into the rural setting of Maine.

Great Blue Heron is perhaps a new angle for Barbieri. A blue heron is perched in a tree, and both objects are painted in a style like that of Barbieri’s realistic landscapes. The heron isn’t wearing a blazer, nor is it reading a book. It’s simply a great blue heron.