BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN-Norte Maar is pleased to present BOYS OF BUSHWICK: an exhibition addressing the male figure as muse. BOYS OF BUSHWICK features drawings by Richard Haines and includes paintings by Dan Halm, collage by Ellen Letcher, and historic work by Paul Cadmus and Pavel Tchelitchew. An opening reception will be held Friday, April 1 from 6-10PM. Norte Maar is the apartment gallery of Jason Andrew and is located at 83 Wyckoff Avenue, #1B, Bushwick. Exhibition is open weekends through April from 1-6PM or by appointment. For more information visit: www.nortemaar.org

BOYS OF BUSHWICK comes with a parental warning as the material on view includes explicit male nudity.

RICHARD HAINES often refers to New York City as an endless runway; befitting of a man who moved to the big city to pursue illustration, became a successful fashion designer, and who has come full circle as one of today’s most sought after fashion illustrators. In fact, many look to Haines as the impetus of fashion illustration’s resurging popularity today.

His illustrations regularly grace the pages of The New York Times and InStyle Magazine and his wildly popular website, which feature his personal and professional works, has received accolades from respected critics such as Paper Magazine, New York Magazine, men.style.com, refinery29.com and getkempt.com. It is not uncommon to see Haines seated front row at fashion week’s most desirable shows busily sketching images for magazines and blogs who hire him to record what no camera is capable of capturing. In July 2009, Haines received his first solo show at one of the Lower East Side’s most respected galleries, Envoy Enterprises.

Haines’ current popularity can be traced to his successful career as a designer for selective companies like Calvin Klein, Perry Ellis, Sean Combs and Bill Blass. The experience garnered at each of these companies complemented and nurtured his formal training as an illustrator, breathing unique life into his images. Haines’ expertise in fabrication, piquancy, proportion and in the oft missed details of how a garment falls on the body deliver remarkable perspectives that beguile the eye.

To be sure, Haines is no mechanic. His deeply-rooted interest in fashion design, from childhood to present day, is mostly sentimental. It informs his every stroke, making his works surpass the realm of simple figurations, crossing into the rarely penetrated dimension of art. For more information about Richard Haines: http://designerman-whatisawtoday.blogspot.com/

DAN HALM is a painter whose recent work addresses the longing for and the pursuit of beauty. These sensitive works use friends and lovers from his life as models, as muses and inspiration. With a delicate graphite line set against an impressionistic background, his work connects to these important individuals that appear as sensitive silhouettes through a haze of memory. “I paint beauty,” the artist explains, “beauty that does not exist in me, in my past or in my world.” Halm graduated from School of Visual Arts (MFA, 2001). His last solo exhibition was held at Envoy Enterprises in 2009. He is also a successful independent curator. To learn more about Dan Halm: www.danhalm.com

ELLEN LETCHER straddles genders in her unique combination of imagery torn and collected from fashion and news magazines. In quick gestures with paint as the binding medium, Letcher glues down her ideas of youth, protest, birth, and death. The result is rich combination of images that narrate a sophisticated unconscious and bring to mind the wants and dreams, memories and mistakes of the human experience. Letcher is the co-founder of one of Bushwick’s hottest galleries called Famous Accountants. For more information about Ellen Letcher: http://famousaccountants.wordpress.com/

The exhibition also includes works by historic artists Paul Cadmus (1904-1999) and Pavel Tchelitchew (1898-19570) and whose work championed the male figure.