KATHRYN EARNHART |The Butlers A painter of 'visual poetry' will present talk at gallery

Painter Dan Christensen will sign catalogs and speak during a reception from 1 to 3 p.m. today at the Trumbull branch of the Butler Institute of American Art.
The Trumbull Butler is at 9350 E. Market St., Howland.
Today's program highlights the Butler's exhibition of four decades of production by this New York painter of lyrical abstraction.
"Dan Christensen: A Forty Year Survey" was organized with assistance from Salander-O'Reilly Galleries and funded by Foundation Medici.
According to Butler Director Dr. Louis Zona, "In an age in which aesthetic issues seem to have been supplanted by themes of social relevance and when the very art of painting has been called pass & eacute;, the art of Dan Christensen stands as a reminder of what great and timeless art has been and will remain.
"The paintings of Christensen are visual poetry. They are a response to our basic need to find order amidst chaos, to uncover beauty where little exists and to understand the real treasure, which is human creativity."
Biography: Christensen was born in Nebraska in 1942. In 1964 he earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from the Kansas City Art Institute.
His New York career quickly advanced in the 1960s with paintings exhibited in prominent New York galleries including Salander-O'Reilly (his current dealer), ACA, Andre Emmerich, Tibor De Nagy and Noah Goldowsky.
Christensen's works are included in the collections of renowned museums including the Whitney Museum, the Corcoran Museum and the Cleveland Museum of Art, and art writers including Newsweek's Peter Plagens, famed art historian Clement Greenberg and ARTnews contributor Carter Ratcliff.
According to Christensen, "I studied the fairly traditional, academic way at the Kansas City Art Institute. I did hundreds of hours of figure drawing, figure painting, and I still like figure painting and landscape painting, but what interested me most about that sort of thing are the total aspects, not the lessons they might teach.
"I don't see anything didactic or lessons to be taught. If there are lessons, they a kind of universal truth that we can't quite put our finger on that you can achieve figuratively as well. My generation -- the way I was brought up in the art world -- still thinks that there is something that you can get at.
"Painting keeps me alive. It's the most alive I can get. When you get into it, you lose yourself somehow. You become more aware of everything -- it's like turning a double play in baseball -- it's something I wish everyone could experience, and I'm sure they do in some way or another. I'd like to do it all the time."
Watercolors: Opening Dec. 30 and running through Feb. 10 at the Butler in Youngstown is an exhibition of Gary Bukovnik's watercolor works.
This artist, born and educated in Cleveland, has lived in San Francisco for more than 20 years.
His large-scale works utilize the media of watercolor, monotype and lithograph, fusing sensual vitality with powerful color, creating floral images of depth and intensity.
The exhibition is presented in cooperation with the Bonfoey Company of Cleveland.
A meet-the-artist reception will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Jan. 13.
Photo exhibit: A display of digital photographs by Steve Giovinco will open in January in the Novak Gallery of the Butler's Beecher Center wing.
This exhibition features the New York artist's new works that combine realism with the psychological and the mysterious.
A reception to honor the artist is planned. Call (330) 743-1711 for information.
As a result of the donation by New Jersey artist Gary Erbe, a limited number of reproductions of the painting "Compositions in Red, White and Blue," suitable for framing, will be available in the Butler gift shop.
The work features a calendar that begins with September 2001 and ends with December 2002. All proceeds will benefit New York City's Robinhood Fund, which assists the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.
XButler hours in Youngstown are Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday noon to 4 p.m. Butler hours at the Trumbull branch are Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Butler Salem hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. The Butler will be closed Dec. 25 and Jan. 1.