For more than twenty years, Thomas Deans Fine Art has presented Summer Pleasures, an annual group exhibition lasting two months. The diversity of work ranges from the serious to the whimsical, and changes throughout the eight weeks of the exhibition. As always, artists long-established with the gallery will exhibit alongside new names in genres ranging from realism to abstraction to conceptualism.

This year the exhibition will showcase two well-known Atlanta artists: abstract sculptor Steve Steinman; and colorful, pop-influenced painter and Savannah College of Art Professor Tom Francis. Other participants include a number of popular Atlanta or Atlanta-area artists, as well as national and international artists: Geraldine Gillingham, Casey Matthews, Charlie Bluett, Daniel Byrd, Scott Upton, Paul Tamanian, Stephen Pentak, David Kidd, Lauren Betty, Brian Rego, David Cason Adams, Rodger Bechtold, David Campbell, and Chris Liberti, among others.

Former dean of the design school at American Intercontinental University, Steve Steinman finds beauty in recycled scrap metal, and his sculptures display the artist’s fascination “with the idea of motion and static objects.” Steinman’s work has been installed throughout the Atlanta area, most notably in the Buckhead MARTA station, which Steinman created for the 1996 Olympics.

Tom Francis’s paintings are defined by their vivid color, multilayered patterning, variety of motifs, and lavish application of paint, Francis’s paintings are by turns lyrical, provocative, and complex, but always celebratory. Francis often paints subjects from nature. His latest works, the “Night Paintings” were initially inspired by a moonrise over a large koi pond, which the artist observed while visiting China.

The exhibition opens with a reception for the artists on Friday, June 14, 6-8 pm, and continues through August 16. The gallery is located on Miami Circle in the art and design district of Buckhead, Atlanta. Gallery hours are Monday-Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.