The new Fall 2025 Elisa Contemporary Art exhibit, Amid the cities and buildings, opened September 24 at the Elisa Contemporary Art Gallery in Riverdale NY. It will run through December 3, 2025 (closed 11/5 and 11/12). It is a group show inspired by cities around the globe.

The show includes 1970’s-80’s NYC Subway photographs, as well as those taken in Cuba in 2016 by Bronx Artist, John Conn, Shadow paintings by Connecticut artist, Dale Najarian, a painting by Turkish Artist, Yasemin Kackar-Demirel and watercolor by California Artist, Ferdinanda Florence. It also features a geometric painting by Hawaii artist, Jason Wright.

John Conn’s iconic Subway series were photographed between 1970 and 1982 in New York City. They are part of the permanent collection of the Museum of the City of New York, The New York Historical Society and Hoboken Historical Museum. He also travelled to Cuba in 2016. Connecticut Artist, Dale Najarian brings the viewer into different global citiscapes (one in Zurich and one in Amsterdam) and captures the shadows of the buildings and the people through light and reflection. This series is based on photographs that are projected (in a blacked out room) onto the canvas and then painted. Ferdinanda Florence captures an industrial building in California which is used by the Vallejo Fire Department for practice drills!

The brightly color abstract cityscapes of Yasemin Kackar Demirel are composed of buildings and structures, both real and imagined from around the world. She often incorporates interior and exterior architectural elements such as ceiling views, archways, windows of museums, restaurants, galleries, coffee shops, concert halls and theaters into her art. According to Kackar-Demirel, “I am drawn to the idea of capturing the infiniteness of constructions in land and in urban life with a grounded sense of freedom, controlled yet uninhibited.”

Jason Wright’s strong geometric painting captures straight and solid buildings in an unknown space. The results are startlingly haunting skylines and visionary landscapes. These pared down images are portrayed in a graphic style with precise shapes, bold lines and intense colors. Layer by layer using a palette knife, he provides just enough detail in his play on the theory of shelter and landscapes.