Acclaimed artist Natalie Marino will be present at a showing of her city-themed paintings at the Ivanhoe Art Mosaic on Friday, Aug 1. Doors open for viewing at 3:30 PM with a formal reception to follow at 5:50 PM. The show will run till August 28th. The Ivanhoe Museum is located at 1 Spruce Street, between Market St. and McBride Ave., in the center of Paterson,NJ. Marino has been influenced by the gritty, hard-scrapple cityscapes of urban Paterson and New York. However she portrays them in a unique way. To her the city is its people…and their differences, their spirituality, their humanness. In this show she compares and contrasts her urban view of these great Northeastern cities with those of her protégé Stanley Agbontaen from Nigeria; and his unique paintings of that African nation’s cities. Agbontaen portrays the crowded streets of Nigeria with a palate knife technique that creates an impasto of color as deep as the cluttered streets he paints.

These contrast sharply with the delicate lines and subtle pastel hues of Marino’s New York. Art lovers and city people of every culture will relate to these works and will find a personal connection to both portrayals. It is well worth the trip to take this artistic grand tour of place and time - from Marino’s cities steeped in 19th and 20th century history seen through her classically trained eyes; to the 21st century’s developing world’s teeming urban centers seen through Agbontaen. Mr Agbontaen will travel from Nigeria to attend the opening.