CORNWALL, Conn.—The Cornwall Library will host an upcoming exhibition of artwork by Peter D. Gerakaris. “Oculus Serenade,” an exhibition of vibrant tondo paintings, works on paper, and mosaics will be on view from Jan. 17 through Feb. 28, with an
artist’s reception on opening day from 4 6 p.m.
Registration requested for reception.
In “Oculus Serenade,” Gerakaris focuses our gaze on the natural world. He describes these round compositions as “merging microscopic and macroscopic perspectives, which speak to the interconnectedness of life at all scales.”
As luminous portals called oculi, the works present motifs like such as endangered botanicals, exotic avian species, topographical forms and aquatic life. The artist has firsthand experience of these subjects through trekking in semi-tropical jungles, scuba diving amongst fragile coral reefs, or hiking along the Housatonic in Cornwall.
As a visual artist who’s also a musician, Gerakaris feels colors vibrate like sound, where the imagery of his oculi “reverberate like stereographic, kaleidoscopic vignettes, helping to bridge nature and culture.”
Gerakaris’s exhibit features four uniquely hand-embellished prints and a shimmering cut-glass mosaic that orbit around a hand-painted, four-foot-in-diameter “Orchid Oculus Tondo.” This central painting evokes a dreamlike cosmos where viewers encounter endangered parrots from St. Lucia and larger-than-life tropical orchids flowing amongst rhythmic foliage.
His work has been featured in numerous exhibits around the world, and he has had art acquired by many institutional and private collections at home and abroad. Currently based in Cornwall, Gerakaris was raised as a free-range child in New Hampshire and later maintained New York City studios for nearly two decades. He earned a BFA from Cornell University and an MFA from Hunter College, where he received the Tony Smith Prize.