The MGCCC Jackson County Fine Arts Gallery is proud to announce the opening of the exhibit “The Plein Air Impressionistic Paintings of Phil Sandusky.”  The exhibit will be open to the public from August 30-October 2, with an opening reception at 12:15 p.m. on Thursday, August 30.

Phil Sandusky is a nationally renowned plein air impressionist landscape and cityscape painter who has had 34 solo exhibits in New Orleans and across the country. Though he is also an accomplished portrait and figure painter, he is best known for his cityscapes of New Orleans. He studied academic art privately from a very early age, and also, having an aptitude in math and science, graduated from Jacksonville University with a BA in Physics in 1980. In keeping with his dual interest in science, Sandusky has tempered his painting with an understanding of vision that goes beyond the age-old dictums about optics, light, and perspective to venture into the realms explored by modern vision science. He has written four books, New Orleans en Plein Air, Painting Katrina, Jacksonville Through a Painter’s Eyes, and New Orleans Impressionist Cityscapes.  He has also been the subject of, and often himself written, many articles in such national periodicals as “American Artist”, and “Plein Air Magazine.”

“My main objective as a painter is to heighten peoples’ awareness and appreciation of the visual experience. I’ve achieved this objective by bettering my understanding of human vision and how it relates to painting. Another way I align my painting more with human vision is to work exclusively from life. The first hand visual experience is completely different and infinitely richer than re-evoking the visual experience second hand using photographic references. Dealing with the complexity and fleeting nature of the first-hand experience also creates adversity, which makes me strong. I’m forced to simplify, develop my memory (which is an important part of vision), better my understanding of the subject as a whole, and become a better painter and draughtsman in general.”

In addition to his prolific artistic output, Sandusky teaches landscape, figure, and portrait painting both privately and at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Art. His work is in such prominent collections as the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Louisiana State Museum, and the Historic New Orleans Collection.

The MGCCC Fine Arts Gallery hours are 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., Monday-Friday. For more information, contact Marc Poole at 228-497-7684.