Hollis Taggart

Self-taught artist Frank Diaz Escalet approached his practice from an unexpected direction: through leather. Born in Puerto Rico in 1930, Escalet was a successful leather craftsman who created custom clothing for clients like the Rolling Stones. During his years living on the Bowery, from 1958 to 1971, he absorbed the energy of New York’s jazz scene, nightlife, and multicultural neighborhoods.

Gallery artist Sheila Isham's solo exhibition Between Worlds is a focused presentation of the artist’s work, organized through key chapters that trace the unfolding of her life and career. Across more than six decades, Isham created a body of painting that reflects a deeply personal journey through abstraction.

The key difference between fine art and what we call “outsider art” lies in formal training, institutional connections, and artistic drive. Fine art is created primarily for its aesthetic, conceptual, or intellectual significance. Fine artists understand technical guidelines, composition, and critical theories. Their success depends on galleries, museums, critics, and curatorial standards.

A 1987 newspaper article about the artist Frank Diaz Escalet noted that his inlaid leather paintings were joined by seams so fine that they were barely noticeable, even upon touch. The imperceptibility of Escalet’s methods is akin to his presence in art history: extraordinary but often overlooked. The Puerto Rican-born, New York-raised artist began his career operating a renowned Greenwich Village leather shop that catered to famous clients, including the Rolling Stones and Aretha Franklin.

Rachel MacFarlane paints fantastical visions of plants and landscapes that feel lifted from speculative fiction. Before she begins painting, MacFarlane builds small paper constructions that distill the emotional forms of plants and places, using memory as a guide. The finished works glow with slick brushstrokes and electric hues of magenta, amber, orange, teal, and violet, drawing viewers into environments that feel at once lush and uncanny.