Barnardsville Highway. Martin Pasco, artist
Through November 30, Asheville Gallery of Art is highlighting the paintings of Martin Pasco in North Carolina Works. Many of the scenes in his paintings come from within a three-mile radius of Pasco’s Barnardsville home. “All I’m trying to do is what most other landscape painters do: filter my vision of the world through paint,” says Pasco. “Even though I have a degree in fine arts, I have been a professional freelance illustrator throughout my career. This is my first one-man show, and my first gallery show since graduating in 1980, but to be fair, it’s also the first time I tried.”
Pasco traces his style back to the influence of two specific paintings, both held in the collection of the Palmer Art Museum at Penn State University: August Landscape by Sidney Goodman and Buildings, Trees, Path by Elmer Bischoff. The Goodman work is simple realism, while the Bischoff piece is extremely abstract.
“It would be hard to imagine two more different styles of painting,” says Pasco. “My paintings seem to be trying to merge those two styles.”
Asheville Gallery of Art is located at 82 Patton Avenue in Asheville, across from Pritchard Park. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. To learn more, call 828.251.5796, visit AshevilleGallery-of-Art.com or follow the gallery’s Facebook page.
