Landscape or cityscape art frequently falls into the trap of being a little too postcard friendly. I can admit to seeing more than one gallery show where renderings that are supposed to be "haunting depictions of the ravages of industry on our landscapes" are little more than benign reproductions of buildings. It's the kind of thing that an artist really has to convey to his or her audience with little more than space and color, and I can think of few artists that have truly pulled it off. JMW Turner and Frans Koppelaar spring to mind. But I'm always interested to see newer entries into this tricky art form, and the fact that Austin artist David Leonard has a series devoted to the Dallas cityscape brings an interesting point of view to the genre. Leonard's vivid oil cityscapes take a ground-up perspective that we can all relate to, and attempt to express how the architecture we live with every day has taken over natural landscapes and shapes our existence within boundaries defined by industry, concrete and glass. The paintings are almost ethereal in nature, dodging the dreaded postcard comparison by leaps and bounds, and providing a surprising new outlook on the cityscapes we take for granted. Leonard's Street Level will be on view at the Norwood-Flynn Gallery, 3318 Shorecrest Drive, through January 25, 2009. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from noon until 5:30 p.m. Visit norwoodflynngallery.com for more information.
Tuesdays-Saturdays. Starts: Nov. 22. Continues through Jan. 25, 2008