This and other works by Richard Reichenbach will be part of his exhibition “A Simple Expression” at the Stadler Gallery Aug. 7 to 24. KINGFIELD — The Stadler Gallery at 225 Main Street is pleased to announce exhibitions of works by Richard Reichenbach from Industry, and Abby Shahn from Solon. The exhibitions will be on view Aug. 7 through 27 daily from noon to 4 p.m. and by appointment. An artists’ reception will be held Saturday, Aug. 7, from 2 to 4 p.m. the public is urged to attend.

Richard Reichenbach

Reichenbach grew up with an avid interest in art, which, however as it happens so often, was accompanied by a proper dose of self doubt and lack in confidence in his ability to draw, paint or sculpt. Although he began in a roundabout way with photography at the age of 18, it was not until 1990 that he took another baby step by enrolling in a drawing class which was followed a decade later by his discovery of painting and then working with stone in 2006. When he left the U.S. Coast Guard the following year, Reichenbach was ready to start a life fully committed to his art.

In this show, titled “A Simple Expression,” he uses both oil and acrylic paint. Reichenbach prefers simple, almost primitive subjects expressed in bold colors.

Almost juxtaposed to his painting is his approach to sculpting. He prefers alabaster because it is easy to sculpt, yet its delicate property requires extra care. His vessels express almost a sense of tenderness in the flow and rhythm as often observed in nature where “nothing is ever still and stone is not what we perceive it to be,” Reichenbach explains.

However, both media show his love for simplicity as reflected in the exuberance of his paintings and the inward directed stillness of his vessels.

Abby Shahn

People living in the Kingfield area or those who might have been visiting last summer will perhaps remember Shahn’s big, bold and beautiful exhibition in the large barn of the Stadler Gallery, and they might ask why Shahn is showing again this season. Shahn’s large painting installation in the barn had been planned long before it was finally was installed.

However, by that time Shahn had already moved far ahead and no longer felt comfortable with large one-woman shows. When showing alone, she says can only identify with the exhibition if it remains in a small format.

Therefore the Stadler Gallery extended to Shahn the offer to show again this summer in a small space where she feels she belongs at this stage of her explorations into new territory.

“Explorations,” therefore, is the title of Shahn’s exhibition. On view will be egg tempera paintings on paper.

Shahn was born into a family of artists and grew up in rural New Jersey. After having spent some time in the west, she settled in New York City in the 1960s and has been living in Maine since 1970.

Although Shahn attended several prestigious art schools for varying lengths of time, she feels that her greatest education came from living in New York City during an amazingly fecund period of art history, and from her fellow artists at that time.sit www.stadlergallery. com for more information.