The Great Neck Library is exhibiting the Light in Motion paintings by Clemente Ettrick from Feb. 14, 2023 to March 10 at our Main Library, 159 Bayview Ave. inGreat Neck.  We welcome you to come join us for a reception on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023.

When Clemente Ettrick closed his forty-year Manhattan advertising design studio and retired, his plan was not to leave the art community.

Instead, he chose to focus on developing his lifelong passion: exploring fine art with a focus on human anatomy.  The suggestion that he consider painting performing artists was a good one.  Drawing from his work experience, study of human anatomy, frequent quick sketch practice sessions at the Art Students League of New York, and affiliations with artist groups here on Long Island, he has continued to refine his skills by painting images of local performance artists.

He has also become proficient at using light and color to create images that reflect the physical and emotional expressions of those artists themselves.

Membership in the Huntington Arts Council, which hosts a wonderful annual summer arts festival, has provided opportunities for him to observe performances of Long Island dancers and create paintings based on his interpretations and impressions of their performances.  His goal is to capture and bring their work to life for those who saw the performances as well as for others who did not.

Clemente’s exhibit at the Great Neck Library’s Main Branch comes primarily from his Light in Motion collection, which spotlights local dancers, some of whom perform with Great Neck-area dance studios.

Clemente displays his work on ClementesPalette.com, Instagram as @clementespalette and Facebook as ClementesPalette.

His original paintings are not for sale.  However, most of them are available in limited editions as giclées, which are frameable museum-quality reproductions.  Created on canvas or pastel paper, they are indistinguishable from the originals.

Most recently, Clemente has been painting flamenco dancers and has entered a collaboration with a New York City choreographer/performance artist, Bárbara Martínez to raise awareness of the impact of plastic pollution on the environment.  In the spring of 2023, they plan to display paintings of his impressions of her choreography alongside her live performance of her original work.

For more information, please contact Great Neck Library at (516) 466-8055 or email [email protected].