Buster Levi Gallery is pleased to present The Last Round-up work by Grey Zeien at 121 Main Street in Cold Spring, New York. The exhibition will run from January 10  to 31, 2026. There will be an opening reception for the artist on Saturday, January 10 from 5-7 pm.

The Last Round-up will include several large paintings from over the last decade, as well as 10 small ceramic works created over the past 5 years. Zeien has long had an interest in merging hard-edge abstraction with an improvisational handling of paint. This is clearly evident in In Deep, 2014, one of the paintings in the show. Most of the shapes in this painting have clean, hard edges yet the surface of the work as a whole is heavily worked and distressed. The treatment of the majority of the painting appears scraped or sanded with little effort at any recognizable repetition emphasizing improvisation. Its shapes float within ground colors which vary across the work. Though most of the forms are defined by hard edges, many do not have an even surface thus they slide in and out of depth. Additionally, Zeien has added gold leaf to some areas. When the gold leaf reflects light, the shapes stand out and when the surface is uneven, they merge into the rest of the painting. Zeien uses space in a way that allows the painting to breathe, as if it has a pulse. 

Compared to the intensity of Zeien’s paintings, the ceramics are whimsical take-offs of various forms of sea life. Though carefully executed and detailed, they share a definite imaginative vision characteristic of Matisse’s cutouts, especially the  floral and oceanic forms. There is a freedom to the contours of the forms and inventive variations when Zeien combines multiple forms within a work. The colors range from bright to subtle in some pieces, and in others, they vary from accurate to more imaginative. Similar to his paintings, Zein’s ceramics are complex and demonstrate a creative and intelligent sensibility coupled a willingness to experiment and be open to the possibilities suggested by his materials.

The gallery will be open Saturday and Sunday from noon to five pm.

For more information: busterlevigallery.com

Artist Website: Grey Zeien