Father and son’s paintings cast Bronx in new light

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When associate curator Emily O’Leary chooses an exhibit for the Gilbert Pavilion Gallery at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, she thinks about all kinds of things.

“This space, we pretty much do any kind of work that we think is interesting, that will garner interesting conversations,” she said. “This space is sort of a free-for-all of whatever we think people will respond to.”

So far, the gallery’s current show, “Different Views: Bronx Paintings by William P. Folchi and John Folchi,” has hit all those marks.

Mr. Folchi, who died in 1992, was a car mechanic who lived in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx. In his spare time, he painted Impressionist-style landscapes — mostly views from his house or his auto body shop.

He also introduced his son John Folchi to the world of art, taking him to museums to teach him the basics of drawing anatomy, Ms. O’Leary said.

The younger Mr. Folchi eventually received a MFA from Lehman College in 1979 and went on to exhibit in galleries around the city. He takes a different approach than his father, creating life-like close-ups of various subjects from clouds to cardboard to pavement. For the show at the Gilbert Pavilion Gallery, Ms. O’Leary chose works from his Bronx-based series “Gas/Water Plates.”

The curator said she loved the idea of a father-son show, which would capture an intergenerational spirit that might appeal to residents and visitors at the Hebrew Home.

Hebrew Home, Gilbert Pavilion Gallery, Emily O'Leary, Isabel Angell
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