ROBIN S. HALPERN’S “REiGNiNG COLOR” AND HEDI KYLE’S “MOTTEN”

LONGYEAR GALLERY SEPTEMBER 12th – OCTOBER 13th, 2025

OPENING RECEPTION: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13th from 3-6 p.m.

Longyear Gallery of Margaretville is pleased to announce the opening of two featured artists’ solo exhibitions: Robin S. Halpern’s “REiGNiNG COLOR” and Hedi Kyle’s “MOTTEN.” These exhibitions will be accompanied by a group show featuring the art of all other Longyear Gallery members. Opening on Friday, September 12h, these exhibitions will run through Monday, October 13th with the Artists’ Reception on Saturday, September 13th from 3-6 p.m. Hedi Kyle will also give a short talk and a demo of how she does the stenciling in an Artist Talk/Demo Sunday, September 21, from 2- 3 p.m.

Robin S. Halpern’s solo exhibition “R E i G N i N G C O L O R” reveals this artist’s creative practice, which is deeply informed by her dual passions: the art of psychotherapy and the fine arts—including painting, drawing, collage, and mixed media. These seemingly distinct disciplines converge in her work, each enriching the other and shaping both her emotional and visual perspectives. Using paint, graphite, ink, and a range of papers, Halpern constructs layered, textured compositions that explore the dynamic interplay of color, shape, and form. According to the artist, “My abstract and expressionist figurative paintings are born through this fusion of materials and techniques—works that evoke mood, memory, and sensation. The same intuitive and imaginative energy that animates my therapeutic practice also inspires my approach to the canvas.” Viewers are invited to engage with the work not just visually, but emotionally—attuning to the subtle ways in which color, texture, and form may stir inner responses.

Robin Halpern earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting from the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University, where she studied under noted figurative painter Jerome Witkin and George McNeil, the founder of The American Abstract Artists. After becoming drawn to the interior world of the human psyche, Halpern began working as a psychotherapist for many years while also resuming life as a painter. A member of Longyear Gallery in Margaretville, NY, she has shown in group and solo exhibitions throughout the New York area. Her work hangs in private collections throughout the country. She resides and paints in both NYC and the Catskills.

Hedi Kyle’s solo exhibition “MOTTEN” uses the German word for Moths, which Kyle chose for its sound and pronunciation. As Kyle notes, “When I say the word moth it sounds like moss, the plant that grows on stonewalls and the forest floor. The correct sound of th in the English language does not come easy for me. Since I wanted to feel comfortable when pronouncing the title of my show I chose “Motten.” Real moths have always intrigued Kyle, who says she “finds them secretly beautiful and haunting, being attracted to light when it is safer in the dark. Moths have appeared off and on in my work for 50 years. When I started to call them ‘Motten,’ the word worked like a key opening a vista of moth-like images--fantasy moths which I envisioned as compositions of parts such as wings and bodies. Light and texture, transparency and colored overlays led to arrangements of my imagination.” For Hedi Kyle, “Folding, crumbling and shaping paper has fascinated me throughout my career as a book conservator and book artist. The pages of an open book remind me of creatures with wings. ‘Motten’ presents the drawings, stencil prints and 3D creatures that emerged during spring and summer of 2025. Now, in retrospect, I see that meine Motten possess certain personalities I never saw in real moths.”

Born in Berlin in 1937, Hedi Kyle graduated from the Werk-Kunst-Schule in Wiesbaden, Germany in 1959 with a degree in graphic design and, after a year spent painting in Greece, she was subsequently employed as a commercial artist in Frankfurt. After moving to the United States, a serendipitous job in the library at the New York Botanical Garden opened up and soon offered her additional training with conservator and master binder, Laura S. Young. She began teaching book arts workshops at the Center for Book Arts in lower Manhattan. In 1983, along with Timothy Barrett and Gary Frost, Kyle co-founded the Paper & Book Intensive, an annual series of bookbinding, papermaking, and conservation workshops, now in its 35th year. In 1993, the Center for Book Arts held an exhibition "Hedi Kyle and her Influence: 1977-1993" which featured work by Kyle and twenty contemporary book artists influenced by her. In 2015, the 23 Sandy Gallery in Portland, Oregon held an exhibition entitled "Hello Hedi" featuring the work of 56 international artists making works inspired by Kyle. Her work has appeared in many exhibitions and collections, and she received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 from the Guild of Book Workers (GBW) and a Distinguished Career Award in 2016 from the College Book Art Association (CBBA).

Future Fall 2025 Longyear Gallery exhibits include one solo exhibition featuring the art of Longyear Gallery member Louise Kalin, running from Friday, October 17th – Sunday, November 16th accompanied by “New Voices,” a group show featuring the art of Jennifer Lord Rhodes, Jerry Gallo, GG Stanciewicz, and Cena Pol Crane with the Opening Reception on Saturday, October 18th from 3-5 p.m. These exhibitions will be accompanied by a Members’ Group Show.

Longyear Gallery is located Downstairs in The Commons, 785 Main Street, Margaretville. The gallery will be open from 12 p.m. - 5 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Holiday Mondays. For information, please see Longyear Gallery’s website, www.longyeargallery.org, email the gallery at http://info@longyeargallery.org, or call 845.586.3270 during gallery hours.