Vero Beach Museum of Art Presents LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS OF ADAM STRAUS Through Jan 6

The Vero Beach Museum of Art presents the exhibition LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS OF ADAM STRAUS through January 6, 2013. The 24 works selected for the exhibition represent a dramatic overview of the artist's distinctive talent and his passion for nature.

Adam Straus's landscape paintings often have a mysterious quality that allows plenty of room for interpretation. A number of the paintings selected for his Vero Beach exhibition incorporate atmospheric effects that lend a sense of uncertainty to their subject matter-a rainy day on a country road, a seascape of seemingly endless waves extending to a mist-filled horizon, a small island peeking out of the fog, and a moonlit winter landscape. If Straus depicts a relatively clear atmosphere, he often presents the viewer with an equally enigmatic sense of space in distant mountain peaks, vast marshes, or expanses of water that create a feeling of intense quiet. While staring intently at a Straus landscape, viewers can almost hear the wind's whisper or the small sounds of water lapping.

Straus credits his understanding of nature's moods to his youth spent outdoors on Biscayne Bay and nearby waters. A native Floridian, he studied painting at Florida State University, and lived in the Tallahassee area until 1990. After moving to New York City and then to Long Island in 2003, he adopted more northern subject matter, as depicted in most of the paintings selected for the exhibition. Straus sees himself as working in the historic landscape tradition in its broadest sense, with connections to painters from the 19th century, such as Caspar David Friedrich, and contemporary artists like Gerhardt Richter. Straus hopes that his paintings will communicate the value of a real relationship with the landscape at a time when the grand reality of nature has been replaced by a virtual environment created by computers and "gizmos."

The exhibition was organized and curated by the Vero Beach Museum of Art and its Curator of Exhibitions and Collections, Jay Williams in conjunction with artist Adam Straus.

The Vero Beach Museum of Art is located at 3001 Riverside Park Drive, Vero Beach, Florida 32963. Directions: From I-95 (Exit 147), from U.S. One, and Indian River Boulevard, take State Road 60 east over the Merrill Barber Bridge to beachside, turn right at first traffic light into Riverside Park.

Museum Hours are Monday to Saturday, 10 am - 4:30 pm; and Sundays, 1 pm - 4:30 pm. Call for further information at (772) 231-0707 or visit the Museum's website at www.verobeachmuseum.org.

The Vero Beach Museum of Art is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums (formerly American Association of Museums). Museum programs are sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, and Florida Council on Arts and Culture.

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Artwork: MAN ON A SMALL ISLAND, 2011, oil on canvas, 72 5/8 x 64 in. 184.5 x 162.6 cm.