Recent
Exhibitions
May 13-June 7 , 2025
Ellen Bradshaw
Around the Parks: Manhattan!
ABOVE: Ellen Bradshaw, Spring Has Sprung, Jefferson Market Oil on Canvas, 24x30 inches
There are the impressive imposing canyons of the urban jungle Manhattan.
Then there are her quiet spaces. Whether large or small, oases of nature, offering calm and respite if only for a moment. Or a destination for the day. Places to let go of the bustling pace. To reflect. To let down one’s guard. To walk or run.
Whether the majestic sprawl of her famous Central Park or a quiet garden that springs to life as a beacon of the neighborhood. A gathering place. A place to meet. Along the way or for the day.
The streets around the park tell stories. Of people and neighbors, of small-town life in the big city. And the trees of Manhattan. Reflecting and reminding us of the four seasons, pushing through the stubborn concrete, softening the hard edges, twisting and winding improbably. Filled with character, as are her people.
There are stories to tell. Within and around the parks. Oil on canvas!
Ellen Bradshaw’s work was influenced by the realism of the Ashcan painters, as well as the sense of color and atmosphere explored by the Impressionists. Ellen's usual subject is New York City.
"I'm drawn to the common everydayness of life in the city, and perhaps what is hidden just beneath the surface of the ordinary. The reflective moody quirky streets of Lower Manhattan are my usual subjects - the neighborhoods, the personalities of her buildings, the majesty of her bridges, the streets transformed by snow or the colors of night, the lone figures of daily routine, the everyday intensity of the simple passing of moments against that in-your-face reality that is New York City.”
Ellen has shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions and is the recipient of several awards. She has been President of Pleiades Gallery since 2000.
April 15-May10, 2025
Lisa Ocasio Hirkaler
and Rolando Jorif
Blue and Green
This two-person exhibition featured the captivating works of Lisa Ocasio Hirkaler and Rolando Jorif. Lisa’s oil landscapes and Rolando’s acrylic portraits beautifully explore the expressive hues of blues and greens. From sweeping natural vistas to intimate human expressions, the artists use these colors to evoke emotion and tell stories across various genres.
March 18 - April 1, 2025
Frederick Ballet
Whispers of Color: Subtle Stories of Imagined Reality
ABOVE: Frederick Ballet, Ethereal Shore, Digital Photography, presented as a face mounted acrylic, 40x30 inches
This immersive art show explores the interplay of color and imagination, inviting viewers to venture into an abstract yet familiar world where the boundaries of reality and fantasy coalesce.
Each photograph serves as a window into a narrative that evokes emotion and provokes thought, inviting audiences to see the world from a fresh perspective.
Frederick's photography runs the gamut from representational to surreal. He believes the true subject of the photograph is not the physical world, but rather the subconscious mind of the photographer. He studied at The Philadelphia Photo Art Center (now TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image) and became the first student to earn their Contemporary Practices Photography Certificate. This experience allowed him to hone his skills and develop his unique approach to abstract and surrealist photography with the ultimate aim to create dreamlike imagery that challenges the viewer's perception of reality.
As a New Jersey and New York based abstract photographer, he seeks to transcend the boundaries of reality and tap into the subconscious mind through his art. His photographs are not simply visual representations of the world around us, but rather explorations of the hidden corners of the mind. While experimenting with different techniques he always strives to allow the elements of the image to emerge naturally.
Read Chelsea News on Frederick Ballet’s Exhibition
February 18 - March 15, 2025
Mitchell Rodbell: A Still Colorful Life
A Still Colorful Life celebrates that our lives should always exceed our expectations, particularly if we lead them passionately and creatively, through growth and discovery.
In this show, Rodbell explores the fluidity and the beauty that surrounds us in everyday life, but may be overlooked. He draws inspiration from oceans, sunsets, nature preserves, sky scenes, and blooms. His ability to capture and convey these scenes combines his love of photography, travel and painting.
The artist is fascinated by the process of capturing an image followed by manipulating its colors, shapes, and compositions, which is then translated into his paintings. His rich bursts of color and texture evokes the rhythm and the energy of the world in which we live, that many of us experience but often take for granted. He is a story teller who frequently paints parallel scenes, in vignettes, in order to maximize the viewer’s experience.
Working primarily in acrylic and watercolor, on both canvas and paper, Rodbell incorporates intense washes of paint, various mediums, blending techniques, spraying, scraping, and lively brushstrokes. His spontaneous process allows for many layers and renditions within each piece, underscoring the fluid journey of his work and his inspiration.
January 21 - February 15, 2025
Monali Ghosh: Oceans in Bloom
In this show, Monali takes you on a journey into the fluid, uncharted spaces where the ocean’s vastness meets the delicate, fleeting beauty of nature. She creates abstract works inspired by aerial views of the ocean, loose floral forms, and the ever-shifting interplay between light, water, and organic shapes. These elements serve as her muse, but the process is where the true magic occurs.
The process is a dynamic exploration of texture, color, and movement rooted in the freedom of mixed media. She works with acrylics, soft pastels, and watercolors on canvas or mixed-media paper. Each piece is a layered journey crafted through scraping, blending, layering, and peeling back.
She evokes a sense of freedom and connection through abstraction, inviting viewers to immerse themselves in the art as if diving into an ocean or wandering through a garden. Each piece reflects the balance between chaos and harmony, spontaneity and intention—a space where one feels most alive.
She hopes her art offers a moment of stillness, a sense of wonder, and insight into the meditative power of letting go.
December 26, 2024 - January 17, 2025
28th Annual
Friends of Pleiades
November 26 - December 19
Color My World:
featuring select gallery artists
Participating Artists:
Leda Arensberg, Frederick Ballet, Ellen Bradshaw, Len DeLuca, Barbara Fracchia, Joan Gantz, David Hathaway, Lisa Ocasio Hirkaler, Rolando Jorif, Ann Kraus, Soren Nellemann, Carol Nussbaum, Suyapa Quinn, Mitchell Rodbell, Katie Simmons, Heather Stivison, John Vlahakis, and Joyce Weidener.
October 29 - November 23, 2024
Ann Kraus:
Spirit in the Sky
A celebration of the eternal skyscape both ordinary and extraordinary while highlighting the beauty of our natural environment.
Walking into the Pleiades Gallery and viewing Ann Kraus’s show Spirit In The Sky is an awe inspiring experience. This is the third solo show of the artist and her signature work of clouds and skyscapes are abundant. The colors and shapes dance on the walls and are both common yet inspiring in their simplicity and uniqueness.
The outside world ceases to exist in these works of meditation. We are drawn in to contemplate the issues of our fragile world and the infinite beauty that can go unnoticed in our daily lives. On the Horizon, whispers a subliminal message where the sunrise triumphs over the night’s darkness. And the Stockholm Sunset vibrates with joy and resilience at day’s end.
An artist with her “head in the clouds” and “feet on the ground” has produced a breath of fresh air in her new show. We are reminded to simply look to the heavens to allow our own spirits to soar.
October 1 - 26, 2024
Elizabeth Cody:
Shapes in Dialogue
Artist Statement: I make unusual colorful shapes in dialogue with other shapes. I strive for a precise individual color, line, volume and placement on the picture plane. I’m interested in how these dimensions affect each other.
It's in the nature of humans to reflexively seek clues to the story or meaning of the painting. As soon as a shape becomes recognizable, it's co-opted by the viewer as a meaningful clue in a narrative they want to build around the image. If that enhances the viewer’s interest or emotional response to the painting that’s welcome.
Within an abstract painting, I can find my hand in motion running ahead of my brain and forming the shape of a recognizable thing, like a tulip or a rose. If a viewer wants a painting to say something, these few absentmindedly drawn identifiable objects can be clues, but no more than clues. Remember more often than not the painting isn’t a story; it just is.
September 3 - 28, 2024
Joseph O’Neill:
He, She, Them, Us
July 9 - August 3, 2024
David Hathaway:
Transformations - A Metamorphosis
Transformations - a Metamorphosis is a retrospective and transformation of David Hathaway’s work from photography to abstract paintings. He studied art and design at Pratt institute and Mercy University as well as Kinosaito Arts Center. His work has been exhibited in Europe and the United States.
June 11 - July 6, 2024
Heather Stivison:
Borders and Boundaries
Heather Stivison: Borders and Boundaries is a solo exhibition of interdisciplinary works exploring borders and boundaries in terms of our basic human need for a place to call home. The artist places present-day issues of migration and border wars into both current and historical contexts. The narrative works in the exhibition are a tapestry of drawings, paintings, textiles, and found objects created from the point of view of a woman and a mother.
Click for further information and VIRTUAL EXHIBITION
May 14 - June 8, 2024
Pleiades Gallery 50th Anniversary Exhibition
Featuring the work of: Leda Arensberg, Frederick Ballet, Ellen Bradshaw, Len DeLuca, Barbara Fracchia, David Hathaway, Lisa Ocasio Hirkaler, Sri Hunter, Ann Kraus, Joseph O'Neill, Carol Nussbaum, Mitchell Rodbell, Heather Stivison, and Joyce Weidenaar.
Download the Anniversary Book here.
April 16 - May 11, 2024
Joan Gantz: People, Places and Perspectives
Joan Gantz presents all new work inspired by a move after living in one place for three years. The exhibition is a record of the impressions and views resulting from the change.
March 19 - April 13, 2024
Carol Nussbaum: Mandala
Carol Nussbaum’s Mandala artwork comprises a variety of photographic subjects, ranging from children’s toys to paper goods, woven and repeated into a “mandala” or circle. Found in every culture and faith, a mandala is structured around a unifying center and represents both wholeness and the universe. Mandalas can be found in the circles of the sun, earth and moon but also in our circles of family and friendships. Carol notes, “Weaving elements of my travel photographs or even a trip to a farm stand into a mandala, brings a new mood or movement to the experience.” While typically used as a meditation aid, mandalas can also serve to center living and working spaces. Following a successful and award winning career in advertising, Carol Nussbaum joyfully exhibits her photographic mandalas in galleries and private collections.
February 20 - March 16, 2024
This is Photography
Featuring the work of Frederick Ballet, Len DeLuca, and Joseph O’Neill
A photograph is supposed to tell a story, while true in a classical sense, that is not the goal of this exhibition. Rather the artists want the viewer to discard stereotypes and focus on the emotional impact of the image. Abstraction allows the viewer to delve into the subconscious and spark imagination. Each artist approaches this differently. Joseph O’Neill uses color and geometric form taking inspiration from the buildings in Manhattan, Len DeLuca walks through the city and is drawn to wall posters with their shredded layers, colors and shapes creating unique abstract imagery, while Frederick Ballet uses the natural world to balance reality with abstraction to leave the viewer with a meditative sense of beauty, peace and timelessness.
No matter the composition, the artists wish to challenge the viewer to see the world in a new light, be it through metaphor, absurdity or beauty and delve deeper into their emotions.
January 25 - February 17, 2024
The 27th Annual Friends of Pleiades Invitational
Featuring the work of Susan Angeles, Frederick Ballet, RM Cimini, Stephen Cimini, Shelley Feinerman, Trine Giaever, Phoebe Hawkins, Iness Kaplun, Bongnam Kim, Bernice Sokol Kramer, Jill Law, Noor Smadi Menash, Linda Mikula, Duane Noblett, Roy Owsley, Janet Rutowski, Fredian Slips, and Tami Uyama.
