Editor's pick: Art opening

Jerico exhibits the photography of Dana Duke

Fri., July 22, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Free. The Jerico Fine Arts Gallery, 17 Lower Main Street, Callicoon, NY. 845/887-5990.

While Dana Duke’s work has changed over time, it is still the patterns that arise out of nature and urban scenes that intrigue him most. The simplest lines against a field of just the right values and textures pull his attention. “I try to go beyond the obvious; there is so much that is overlooked.”

The public will have an opportunity to share his perspective this summer at the Jerico Fine Arts Gallery, where Duke’s photography will be on display through Friday, August 12. Duke himself will be present at the reception on opening day from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Of the work displayed in this exhibit, gallery owner Jerry Horn remarked, “I have always loved black and white photography as a true art form. Dana Duke is just about as good as it gets in this art form.”

Raised in western Pennsylvania, Duke was fascinated by the images in Life and Look magazines and received his first camera at the age of fourteen. While still a teenager, he was exposed to the fine art photography of Robert Frank at the “Americans” exhibit in Philadelphia, and the unique still life and portrait photography of Irving Penn in Vogue magazine. He attended a workshop by noted nature photographer Paul Caponigro that had a profound effect on his future. Other sources of inspiration include Ellsworth Kelly, Agnes Martin and Francis Bacon.

Duke had a successful career shooting commercially with a studio in New York City for 25 years before moving to Sullivan County, and has taught at the Maine Photographic Workshop in Rockport, Maine. In addition to his photography studio, he is the owner and audio engineer of Big Twig Recording Studio.

Gallery hours are Thursday through Monday, 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

For more information, call 845/887-5990 or visit jericogallery.com.