For Immediate Release
February 28, 2024

Suffolk County Community College’s Lyceum Gallery on the Eastern Campus Hosts the Work of Charles Wildbank

Charles Wildbank with his painting Emergence 2, 6'5" x 12'5," acrylic on panel.

Charles Wildbank: Beyond the Visible, an exhibit of large-scale paintings will be on view at Suffolk County Community College’s Lyceum Gallery on the Eastern Campus in Riverhead from March 7 through April 13, 2024. A reception will be held on Thursday, March 14 from 4 to 6 p.m.

Charles Wildbanks’s work has shifted toward a new abstract Surrealism that bridges past with present. For over 50 years, Wildbank has created mural-size, photorealistic paintings. His recent Emergence series brings viewers on a dynamic journey where color and form swirl in an immersive world. On view are two of Wildbank’s 6.5’ x 12.5’ acrylic paintings that span across multiple panels. 

Wildbank comments on this new phase in his work, “With due respect to our world concerns, I’ve composed churning environments. From an array of different senses, I continue to reach, and find ways to portray sensation beyond the visible. Realities, both past and present, overlap and connect, gaining new meaning.”

 In an intriguing play that bridges past with present, Wildbank will also exhibit his memorable David Hockney portraits from the ‘80s with his recent painting of delighted Hockney retrospective attendees with Hockney’s iconic portrait of Henry Geldzahler at the 2017 MOMA Hockney Retrospective.

Born in Roslyn Heights, NY, Wildbank received a B.F.A. (cum Laude) from Pratt Institute in 1970. He was awarded a Yale University School of Music and Art fellowship. He then earned an M.A. in Education at Columbia University in 1972. Wildbank had a studio in Sands Point for a number of years. He moved to Hollywood, CA, for four years, and returned to the east coast in 1989 settling in Jamesport. Throughout his long career, Wildbank designed window displays for Bonwit Teller in NYC and Beverly Hills, CA. In 1983, Cartier on Fifth Avenue presented a salon exhibit of Wildbank’s canvases including his 8’ painting of the famed Cartier Diamond.  Wildbank’s work is in the collections of the General Electric offices in Rockefeller Center, the MBNA Bank Headquarters, and the Cunard, Queen Mary 2 cruise ship. Wildbank’s work is in many private collections in the USA and internationally in Japan, Amsterdam, Italy, England, and Martinique. 

For more information about Charles Wildbank work visit:  www.wildbank.com

Lyceum Gallery hours are:
Monday - Thursday 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Friday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Saturday 11 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Closed Sundays and holidays
Contact the Lyceum Gallery at Montaukett Learning Resource Center for more information: (631) 548-2536

About Suffolk County Community College

Suffolk County Community College is the largest community college in the State University of New York (SUNY) system, enrolling approximately 21,000 students at its three campuses in Selden, Brentwood and Riverhead. Suffolk offers the Associate in Arts (A.A.), Associate in Science (A.S.), and Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degrees, as well as a variety of certificate programs. Offering affordable college tuition, a highly respected Honors program, workforce training programs, extensive extracurricular activities, championship athletic teams, and numerous transfer programs, Suffolk is a first-choice college for Long Island students. Visit us online at sunysuffolk.edu.

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