Creating The Illusion of Light: Contemporary Landscape Painters

On view May 13 - September 30, 2023

Painting en plein air, or simply put, painting in the outdoors, is an act of both chasing an  illusion and understanding how to capture it. Creating The Illusion of Light features the work of two Minnesota landscape painters who have spent their careers instructing and encouraging others to take to the easel. Fred Somers, concerns himself and the others he teaches to approach landscape painting like a spiritual quest. Kami Mendlik twists the illusion of light into something concrete that can be put onto canvas with a calculated recipe of pigment and paint. 

Creating The Illusion of Light puts Somers and Mendlik’s work together for the first time. This exhibition is meant to orient visitors to The Poetry of Nature - Hudson River School Paintings from the New-York Historical Society, pointing out the subtle, almost invisible techniques landscape painters rely on to make their work appear the way it does. Somers and Mendlik, at times mentor and mentee for one another, have devoted their lives to teaching others how to take what nature does naturally and convert it to canvas.

Upcoming Programs

Support comes from:

This exhibition project is presented by the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, with support in part from our Board of Directors, the Elizabeth Calendar King Foundation, Gundersen Medical Foundation, Winona Foundation, Winona Community Foundation, and other generous sustaining contributions from foundations, corporations, individuals, members, and volunteers.