Guest artists Oi Fortin, Mary Lesser, and Liz Pagano take center stage at City Gallery's SEPTEMBER POP-UP, on view at City Gallery through September 26. Visitors can meet the artists at an Opening Reception on Sunday, September 19, 1- 4pm. This short show packs a big collaborative punch with monotype prints, collage, painting, mixed media work, and two animated films.

Oi Fortin is an award-winning monotype printmaker, influenced by nature, relationships and the interior life. Her contemporary abstract expressionist prints are notable for a vivid palette and soaring motifs, yet they can also invoke a calm and meditative state. Reviewers describe Fortin’s work as “emotionally charged, allegorical,” and “vibrant.” Her work in the September Pop-up Show includes a monotype print collage series, Homenatge a Gaudì, and a set of black (and a little red) print series called Dialogue with Rumi Series.

Artist Mary Lesser works in various media and in both abstract and representational forms. In her paintings and animations, intentionally naïve, clunky shapes contrast with bright hues of pinks, yellows, olive greens, grays and reds. The dissonance between joy and excitement, angst and loneliness, pervades the images. Her work in the SEPTEMBER POP-UP explores issues of global pandemic, gun violence, bigotry, war, environmental destruction, and solitude while simultaneously portraying the humor, ridiculousness, and child-like beauty of human existence.

Liz Pagano is a mixed media artist who is inspired by accidental beauty. “I love looking at textures and how they reveal a history,” she says. “I’m always searching for unexpected possibilities. My work magnifies moments, capturing movements, sometimes reactions or fusions. The part I don't control keeps me chasing/searching/moving. My process is about exploring interactions of chance and control, of coincidence and intent.”

Organized by City Gallery member artists, the pop-up is free and open to the public. City Gallery is located at 994 State Street, New Haven, CT 06511. Modified gallery hours are Friday - Sunday, 1pm - 4 pm, or by appointment. All visitors are required to wear a mask and observe social distancing protocols. For further information please contact City Gallery, info@city-gallery.org, www.city-gallery.org.