Art-O-Mat L.I.C. Presents Ann Leggett Show

Bodegon: Manuel and Mortality, 1996 Oil Ann Leggett

Art-O-Mat L.I.C. 46-46 Vernon Blvd., Long Island City, is pleased to present "For the Moment Portraits and Scenarios" by Realist oil painter Ann Leggett. This exhibition of paintings, sculpture, and sketchbooks, opening Friday, November 17 and running through Saturday, December 30, is influenced by many years of travel, people watching, and a unique life. An opening reception will be held Friday, November 17 at 6 p.m.

Born in Manhattan and living in Queens since the 1970s, Leggett has lived in cultures as diverse as Mexico, Europe, and Libya. She presently is studying the culture of Japan.

Reminiscent of Vermeer, her darkly rich paintings record how life looks today. Her work glorifies what we see as mundane, capturing contemporary scenes that appear encapsulated in Old World form. Her involvement with Japanese art influences her aesthetic with Eastern color and form.

In several new paintings we are drawn into anonymous faces in the United States and Japan lost in conversation on mobile phones. Many paintings borrow from traditional stories while adding modern twists. "Makibashira" is a painting based upon a 10th century Japanese novel, the Tale of Genji. Yet we see a present-day plain black plastic garbage bag in the background, painted in painstaking detail.

Procession with Conch Shell Horns, 2006 Oil by Ann Leggett

Many of her portraits -are of local Long Island City people and capture the truth and realness of her subjects. Often their character leaps out with bravado over the most routine events. Her sensitivity to the nuances of the human condition can't help but grab our attention. Leggett is recording the present as a realist, but one who wants to insert a feeling and view that is uniquely her own.

Leggett has held solo exhibitions at the National Arts Club, New York; Avery Hall at Columbia University; the Edward Merrin Gallery, New York; Princeton University; C.G. Rein Gallery, Scottsdale Arizona; Alan-Mayhew Gallery, Martha's Vineyard; Stuart Brent, Chicago; Wabash College, Norfolk Academy; Onslow County, North Carolina, Arts Council; Block Island, Rhode Island, Historical Society; the Union League Club, New York, and others. Group shows include The Fitzgerald Gallery, New York; the National Arts Club; the Museum of the City of New York; Hermine Merel Smith Fine Arts, West Tisbury, Massachusetts: the Grand Central Gallery and the Hammond Museum, North Salem, New York.

Leggett is currently represented by G.C. Lucas Gallery; Indianapolis, Indiana and the Fielder and Fielder, Chilmark, Massachusetts.

Art-O-Mat L.I.C. hours of operation are Friday, noon to 7 p.m., Saturday, noon to 7 p.m and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., or by appointment; also open some Thursdays noon to 5 p.m. Art-O-Mat L.I.C. began in 1995 as one of the Internet's earliest online art projects. Its latest incarnation is an artisan store and gallery in the heart of Long Island City's Hunters Point. In the short time since the store's opening, the store has sold works from more than 80 artists, artisans, musicians, and authors, as well as items from local cultural organizations. Art-O-Mat L.I.C. holds community events such as children's workshops, First Thursdays, which alternate community folktale nights (local oral histories) with lectures on the history of Long Island City, cosponsored by the Greater Astoria Historical Society, and Salon Sundays. The store also sells unique gift items, items with local flavor and books on art and literature. For the Moment Portraits and Scenarios will be Art-O-Mat's ninth exhibition in the Gallery space since opening one year ago on Oct. 25, 2005. For more information, visit www.licweb.com/artomat.