FOR 7/11 LESLEY HELLER GALLERY, SHELLY HAVEN AND BETSY CROWELL

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NEW YORK CITY — Lesley Heller will present the work of Shelley Haven and Betsey Crowell in an exhibition that minutely examines memory and perception through the eyes of two artists whose similar investigations into landscape and natural forms yield markedly different results. Opening July 16 with a reception from 6 to 8 pm, the exhibit will be on view through August 22.

Haven’s landscape paintings explore the intersection of memory and experience through the effects of light an atmosphere. Her scenes of real moments in real places are subject to the distortions and blurring of time and recollection. Working with color and pattern, she captures the specific aspects that transform a scene at a particular moment in time — or in memory.

Crowell’s mastery of technique translates into photographs that, paradoxically, exhibit none of the coldness often associated with technical expertise. In these quiet, meditative images, the warmth and immediacy of the actual experience of seeing through human eyes completely supersedes the camera’s mechanical aspect. In some work, her use of large negatives creates an intensity of detail that magnifies the impact of the carefully chosen scenes and objects she chooses to capture.

Haven received her BA at Binghamton University and an MA and MFA at the University of Iowa. Her work has garnered many awards and honors, including recent grants from the Puffin Foundation and the Manhattan Community Arts Fund. A native New Yorker, she lives and works in New York City, where she teaches at The Cooper Union Institute.

Crowell grew up in Casper, Wyo., and received her BA in philosophy and religion from Vassar College in 1960. While she began her study of photography under the tutelage of Helen Levitt, she is largely self-taught. She lives and works in New York City.

The Lesley Heller Gallery is at 16 East 77th Street, ground floor. For information, www.lesleyheller.com or 212-410-6120.