OP{era} Art

October 1st – November 30th

John Lesser, since his high school days (in the Dark Ages), is a committed (as in asylum) opera devotee.  Untrained in the fine arts, but with a degree in art history from Washington University, self-taught, he likes to work in various media: pencil, ink, pastel, acrylic, clay and especially needlepoint and watercolor.  Most of his work is opera-inspired, hence the present exhibition of some of his generally small-scaled watercolors.  All but one of the pieces in this show are devoted to a single opera and include representations of scenes, characters and nearly every prop or object relevant to the action.  The “Puccini’s Dozen” includes a “collage” of scenes or props from all twelve of the composer’s operas.  John is also a well-known collector of vintage (original) opera posters spanning the years 1845 to 2019.  The very first exhibition held at Subterranean Books (in 2008) was a selection of Polish opera posters from his extensive collection.