Creating a brand is important for a gallery to attract the right collector.  Abend Gallery is known for showing artists that work in realism and in oil paints as the medium.  It's definitely one of the things that sets them apart from other galleries.  The opening of Jill Soukup's show is no exception.

I was amazed at how many works of art Jill had brought to the show.  The pieces were of varying subject matter and varied in size so that there was something for everyone.  Her comfort in public was evident as she gracefully moved through the gallery greeting the guests attending the show.  She obviously has a collector base because many of the conversations I overheard were people very familiar with her work and the congratulatory phrases were flying around the room.

One of the great focal points of the show is the work "Paint in Green".  It's a large piece 72x48 of a beautiful horse.  The work although in the corner has tremendous presence.  I'm assuming they placed it in an out of the way location because the paint was still wet and it reduced the chance of someone wearing oil paint at evening's end and ruining the painting. 

I also like the pieces Jill painted of industrial sites.  Two in particular "Gates" and "Pueblo Factory" really captured the flavor of industrialism.

Drawn to the horse...
Greg