Rita Baragona's luminous and poetic scenes of nature at the Bowery Gallery

Luminous Cadence Roses by Rita Baragona

Rita Baragona continues to focus on the beautiful and natural aspects of life in an exhibition entitled Cadences currently on view at Chelsea’s Bowery Gallery. For this show, Baragona presents a collection of paintings and drawings mostly depicting flowers, landscapes, and oceans that have a poetic rhythm about them and reflect a luminous glow. 

A couple of Baragona’s still-life floral paintings that stand out include Luminous Cadence Roses featuring a group of richly-colored red rose in a white and blue China vase sitting on a bright room dining table; and Orange and White Dahlias where a group of mostly pure white dahlias sit in a clear vase on a living room table next to the window as they take in the sunlight. As the name suggests, a couple of vibrant orange as well as some pale melon colored dahlias are also included in the vase.

Orange and White Dahlias by Rita Baragona

In addition to these colorful images, Baragona also presents close-up ink and watercolor pieces illustrating the botanic life cycle. Her piece entitled Flower Cadence-Blooming features a daisy-like flower with its petals blossoming out in the open indicating new life. By contrast, Wilting Over Time features a flower whose petals are a faded yellow and orange with dried out brown edges indicating the later, somewhat withered stages of the life cycle.

Flower Cadence Blooming by Rita Baragona

Baragona also illustrates the various moods of the ocean beginning with the turbulence of the waves of Stormy Ocean before the waves transition to a calmer state in Ocean Cadences LBI. Also of note is a drawing called Composite Landscape While Driving depicting a scene viewed from inside a car of a winding road in the woods eventually leading to a destination. Baragona is attentive to the changes occurring with her chosen subject even as she is working.  Her paintings are not only about place, but also about time passing. 

At the Bowery Gallery 530 W. 25th St., through May 19. The gallery is open Tue.-Sat. from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m.