Lawrence Fine Art is pleased to announce that it will open Joe Novak: Recent Work at its East Hampton Gallery, Saturday, June 27, with a reception from 5-8 pm. This exhibition represents a homecoming of sorts for Novak, who showed frequently in the Hamptons in the 80s but whose work has not been shown here in 25 years. The exhibition is part of the gallery's "Summer of Abstraction," which explores recent developments in abstraction across media as well as highlights established and past masters.

Novak's focus throughout his career has been the exploration of color and light. His artistic background and work link him closely with the first generation abstract expressionists of the New York School. Major influences include Pollock and Rothko, and his mentors, Peter Busa and Esteban Vicente, whom he met and befriended during the eighties while living and painting in East Hampton.

From 1984 to 2004, Novak painted large monochromatic color field canvases with tonal gradations and soft edges that infuse them with a meditative quality and a sense of movement. When illuminated they become glowing surfaces of color and light. The art critic Peter Frank has written of this work: "One step beyond Rothko's, Novak's paintings gently force the eye to breathe color." 

Novak has continued his investigations into color and light on a smaller scale through the use of different materials and approaches. His body of work is extensive and includes paintings on canvas, panel and paper as well as monotypes, drawings, assemblages, mixed media and prints. He has often worked in series, focusing on a particular medium for years. Among these are "Meditations" (color pencil drawings), "Voices" and "Voices 2" (color aquatint etchings), "Echoes" (painting assemblages with minerals) and "Colors" (350 miniature panel paintings). In recent years his paintings have become more gestural, often with musical allusions. 

His work is in numerous public and private collections, including Berkeley Art Museum, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Cincinnati Art Museum, Hood Museum of Art, New Mexico Museum of Art, Palm Springs Art Museum, Tucson Museum of Art, Weisman Art Museum, among others.