12/1-12/30 | Lotton Gallery | Chicago, IL

Winter Showcase

Lotton Gallery’s annual holiday exhibition features an array of new works by some of its most recognized artists.

Throughout the month of December, galleries around the country often host group exhibitions for their roster of artists just in time for the holiday giving season. Lotton Gallery in Chicago is no different, with its upcoming show displaying new paintings from some of its much-loved artists. Available for collectors will be still lifes and wildlife works to pieces with figures and landscapes, allowing them to fill gaps in their collections or search out new desires.Gianni Strino, Roses for Elenora, oil on canvas, 16 x 12"Included in the show will be two new paintings by Yana Movchan, Bunnies in the Garden and Ralph, which are different from her intricate floral still lifes that she has become recognized for over the years. Instead, these two paintings place animals in front of flower gardens—Bunnies in the Garden shows a trio of rabbits, while Ralph is a portrait of a dog and a bird. Both pieces still highlight Movchan’s signature artistic style of bold colors and high details.Yana Movchan, Bunnies in the Garden, oil on canvas, 9 x 12"

Another artist depicting animals in her work is Mary Alayne Thomas, who uses the classic encaustic medium. Among her latest pieces is The Wind in the Peonies, which shows a hare with a butterfly on one of its ears surrounded by peonies. “This summer, I spent far too many hours in contemplation of my garden. It brings new revelations on a daily basis, and an endless supply of peace,” she says. “As I’ve experienced the growing precariousness of the natural world around me, I find myself drawn to creating paintings that express how necessary our bond with nature is to our daily lives. With The Wind in the Peonies, I want to portray the importance of connecting with another to preserve the wildness in nature and ourselves.”Mary Alayne Thomas, The Wind in the Peonies, encaustic/watercolor on panel, 10 x 10"

Italian painter Gianni Strino will also have a new work in the show that has a natural twist. Roses for Elenora shows a young woman with roses in the background. The painting, Strino says, “comes from the classic Italian paintings of the 1500s, in particular Botticelli, with his magnificent Birth of Venus, but a little [nod] to all the great masters of that period.” —Yana Movchan, Ralph, oil on canvas, 20 x 10"