James Valerio: New Paintings and Drawings
Lesley Dill: Prints and Multiples, 1990-2005    Oct 12 - Nov 26, 2005

In early October, after 46 years on 57th Street, the George Adams Gallery will reopen in a new space on the first floor of 525 West 26th Street. The gallery's inaugural exhibitions will be new paintings and drawings by James Valerio and a survey of prints and multiples by Lesley Dill. The Valerio exhibition will be installed in the main gallery and will feature three new paintings as well as four pencil drawings all completed within the past two years. The Dill exhibition will include works published over the past 15 years by Dieu Donne Papermill, Graphicstudio, Landfall Press, Kruty Editions and Solo Impression, Inc.

James Valerio has always painted on a very large scale, and the works in this exhibition, all measuring 8 x 7 feet, are no exception. "From the Window" 2004, depicts a view of downtown Chicago as seen from the city's west side, while "August Rose," set in a suburban backyard, portrays a woman standing in an inflatable plastic wading pool. The third canvas, as yet untitled, is a scene of two men pruning a tree viewed from below. The drawings, all densely worked portraits, include a 3/4 length self-portrait and a portrait of the artist's wife.

Valerio, who was born and raised in Chicago, lives in Evanston where he teaches at Northwestern University. This will be the artist's 10th one-man show at the gallery since 1983. Valerio has also had solo exhibitions at the Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington (1983), the University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City (1994), and the Greenville County Museum of Art, South Carolina (2000). Valerio is represented in the collections of these institutions as well as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Arkansas Art Center, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, among others.

The Lesley Dill exhibition titled A Thrill Came Slowly, will highlight her non-traditional approach to printmaking, notably her three-dimensional works such as "The Thrill Came Slowly," a multiple published in book format by Kruty Editions, "Head," a paper bust published by Dieu Donne, and "Copper Poem Hands" published by Graphicstudio. Other works include one of her earliest prints published in 1992 by Solo Editions, a selection of small-scale platinum prints from 1997, as well as the recently completed "Woman with Hindi Healing Dress," by Landfall Press.

The Dill exhibition will travel to Sawhill Gallery, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, January –February 2006 and to the Prichard Gallery, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, August – September 2006.

The Valerio and Dill exhibitions will be on view starting October 12th and remain up through November 26th. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 to 6, Mondays by appointment. The new telephone number is 212-564-8480, and the fax is 212-564-8485. Email should be addressed to info@georgeadamsgallery.com

Please note that the gallery has established its own website. Along with artnet.com and artdealers.org, exhibition images and gallery information may be found at www.georgeadamsgallery.com