Gallery 18 is pleased to announce our August exhibit SPLASH!, a show of abstract acrylic paintings on canvas by Danielle Lehtinen, on view from August 7 to September 3, 2019. The Opening Reception is Sunday, August 18 from 12-2pm, and all are welcome!

Exuberant, bold, lively in color and texture, playful and fun, this exhibit is like taking a leap into cooling waters in the heat of summer. According to Lehtinen, her work is decorative in nature (think the perfect living room focal point). “My paintings are a sort of jewelry for the walls. Color, movement, and spontaneity are key.” The work is abstract, although many find representational content.

Lehtinen is Polish-born, American-bred, having come with her family to the United States as a young girl. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in Art/Art History and Philosophy at SUNY Stony Brook and her Masters of Art and Philosophy at Columbia University. Her early oil seascapes and ceramics were followed by conceptual installations. She was one of “The Nine” women artists exhibiting work at the Stony Brook Art Gallery and at Rabinowitz & Guerra Gallery in SoHo. She subsequently taught Aesthetics, Existentialism, and the History of Humanities at Adult Education Departments of Columbia, CUNY, and NYU, and for four years at the Parsons School of Design, where she was provided with the opportunity to study color theory and interior design. Lehtinen next took on the challenge of New York City’s Public School system, where she taught art and humanities for 25 years.

Back in Warsaw after retiring in order to settle her parents’ estate, she finally found the freedom and resources to paint full-time and took fullest advantage, having six exhibits in nine months with repeat offers from the Borowski Gallery, where her work all but sold out. She continues to advance her professional development in art by visiting museums and galleries in New York and Florida and by attending major exhibitions, such as Basel/Art in Switzerland. Her latest inspiration is Manhattan’s SoHo street art, where local artists recently invited her to showcase her work alongside theirs.

She has lived in Manhattan and Brooklyn and has now found a new home and base in Riverdale. Her advice for appreciating her—or any—art is simple: “Trust your eye and your heart. If you buy what you love, you can enjoy it daily.” danielle-art.com.

For more information please contact Maria Neuda, Curator, Gallery 18 at wordturner@cs.com, (347) 332-4647 or Hal Katz at hal.katz@gmail.com, (347) 275-5459.