QCC Art Gallery Brings Warhol, de Kooning, and Lichtenstein to Queens

The Art Gallery at Queensborough Community College reopens Sunday, October 24, after a multi-million dollar renovation with a major art show on American modernist artists, An American Odyssey, 1945-1980 (Debating Modernism). This survey, curated by Stephen Foster, ranges widely across the artistic terrain of American art from the 1950s to 1970s, including work by Willem de Kooning, Andy Warhol, George Segal, Mark Rothko, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, and more than 20 other artists. In partnership with the Circulo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, the collection has traveled from Spain to Queens.

Yesterday I got a sneak preview. Though they're not the most well-known works by these artists, it's a great kick to get so close to the work of real masters in such a beautiful space. The surprises for me were Frank Stella and James Rosenquist. Jasper John's Bread is delicious. And photorealist painter Richard Estes was exquisite with a lonely shot of a Gotham street.

The show is quite a feat for a community college in the far eastern reaches of Queens. Check it out while it's in town. The QCC Gallery has put Queensborough Community College on the cultural map of Queens.

• Cost: FREE
• When: October 24, 2004, to January 13, 2005
• Hours: Tuesday and Friday from 10 to 5 p.m.; Wednesday and Thursday from 10 to 7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m.; and closed on Monday
• More: QCC Art Gallery Directions and Info