“WildLife”

Show dates: March 19 – March 14

Opening Reception: Saturday, March 23, 4-8 p.m.

Are your senses ready for a vibrant wake-up call? Pay a visit to the bold new exhibition, “WildLife” at Chroma Fine Art Gallery. On view now through April 14, with an Opening Reception on Saturday, March 23 from 4:00-8:00pm, “WildLife” features the work of three artists: Oscar Hammerstein, Heidi Johnson and Daniel Lehmeier.

Oscar Hammerstein reveals a splashy new body of inventive digital compositions featuring layers of color, texture, animals, celebrities, athletes, plants, and interior surfaces. Hammerstein’s background in landscape painting and ocular neurology shine through, as does the evolution from his past artworks. In an analogy that pays tribute to his family’s musical legacy, if his prior paintings distilled the tone and tempo of improvisational jazz, these new prints are pure rock and roll.

Heidi Johnson may be a newcomer to Chroma, but her work is right at home in the colorful, eclectic “WildLife” exhibition. Johnson’s inspiration stems from Dutch Still Life paintings, as well as a childhood spent “peering at mudpuddles and tree bark in the woods of rural Massachusetts.” Her elaborate compositions sizzle with visual interest and teem with myriad details. Taxidermied animals coexist with real living creatures, kitsch sits next to high culture, and disparate species of flora and fauna operate in human spaces that burst open into the infinite natural world.”

“One of my favorites by Heidi is ‘Meissen Around,’” declares curator Rita Baunok, “Every time I look at it, I see something new.” Here, Baunok refers to a work where a framed reproduction of Fragonard’s Rococo painting “The Swing” is set against green toile wallpaper in the background. In the foreground, a trio of curious raccoons, which have entered through an open window, examine the ornate details of a Meissen porcelain clock.

Another fresh face at Chroma this month is Daniel Lehmeier. His wood sculptures are the result of three decades working with natural materials and forms. Using wood from sustainable sources, including wood from trees he collects himself, Lehmeier is an acclaimed homebuilder, sculptor, and furniture maker, who “honors the inherent beauty of trees, rocks and other found objects in nature.” His sculptural contributions to the exhibition portray a more supple and pared-down side of nature, namely the organic shapes of outstretched branches, supple female figures, and softly shaped birds.