ROCKLAND — Landing Gallery recently announced the opening of “Nuance of Color,” a solo exhibition of 51 new paintings by Irma Cerese, through Sept. 15, at the gallery at 409 Main St., according to a news release form the gallery.

Cerese has always been fascinated with color and her primary interest in painting is focused on color relationships. Her landscape paintings border on the abstract and are seen simultaneously as both representational landscape and abstraction.

“I make paintings because the act of manipulating colored paint on a canvas is an intense, visceral process for me and I like to see what develops as I do this. Color itself has always fascinated me, and has formed the basis of all my work, beginning with geometric abstractions. After awhile, it felt like something was missing in the abstractions and I turned to landscape both as a point of connection and departure. I don’t wish to tell a story, or accurately describe the observed world. Instead, I convert the primary elements of that world — trees, sky, ground, water, the occasional building — into an underlying geometric structure. The resulting images often border on the abstract, only loosely connected to the subject that attracted me in the first place, although I do seek to evoke the general atmosphere of that subject. I aim to produce work that is compelling in its own right and a celebration of visual experience,” said Cerese, according to the release.

Cerese received her formal training at the Academy of Art and the School of the Art Institute, both in Chicago. She maintained a studio in New York City until 1985 and her paintings are in numerous private, corporate and institutional collections in the U.S. and Europe.

This exhibit celebrates Cerese’s 12th anniversary with Landing Gallery, where she has an annual solo exhibit of her new paintings.

For more information, call 239-1223 or email landinggallery@gmail.com.