From the 1988 exhibition catalog -

The Buscaglia-Castellani Art Gallery of Niagara University felt it was time that Buffalo and Western New York become better acquainted with its native son, Arnold Mesches, an accomplished artist currently residing in New York City. Claimed by Los Angeles and now the Lower East Side in New York, few people realize that Arnold Mesches grew up in Buffalo and attended its public schools from ages six through nineteen. With over 40 solo exhibitions and 98 group exhibitions on his record, his paintings have been shown collectively only twice in this area. The sheer size of his canvases and the volume of work from the last decade demand large spaces. In order to appropriately accommodate the paintings, including examples of the artist's masterful sketches, which always relate to the finished paintings, and introduce the works to as wide an audience as possible, it was decided to install the exhibition at two locations. The paintings were distributed according to thematic content; paintings with direct art historical references at the Buscaglia-Castellani Art Gallery and those without art historical references and images relating more to urban society at the Burchfield Art Center. The artist's skillful use of highly symbolic and allegorical iconography in his paintings will become evident to viewers who visit both museums where recurrent motifs such as chandeliers and the sousaphone player take on different but equally powerful meanings within different contexts.

- Sandra H. Olsen, Ph.D., Director

 To view the exhibition catalog, please click here