Join us at Debbie’s UES home to learn about formalism through both scholarly and creative prisms:  painter Al Held, as revealed by Daniel Belasco, art historian and Executive Director of the Al Held Foundation; and visual artist and architect Erin O'Keefe, represented by the Denny Dimin Gallery.

Formalism is the art historical term referencing how objects are made, their visual and material aspects. Daniel will give us a history lesson on Held, an influential American abstract expressionist painter best known for his monumental canvasses featuring hard-edge abstract compositions made during the second half of the 20th-century. Daniel will also speak to us about the responsibilities of an artist’s foundation in preserving the legacy of the artist.

Through a show and tell of her photography and sculpture practice, Erin will elaborate upon the evolution of her practice and discuss its debt to painters like Held, as well as past photographers whose explorations and discoveries have contributed to her specific technique for capturing the intersection of color and light in space.