Gallery founder reflects on 22 years as ‘Transcendence’ opens at Argazzi

Argazzi Art in Lakeville will open “Transcendence,” a two-artist exhibition showcasing new works by Kathy Moss and Suzanne Onodera on Saturday, Oct. 11. The show brings together two accomplished painters whose practices, while distinct, both explore the sublime and ineffable through nature-based abstraction and symbolic form.

This will be the only major show of the year at Argazzi, lending “Transcendence” a heightened poignancy as the gallery prepares for an uncertain transition. With the building soon to be listed for sale, and programming for 2026 yet undecided, this exhibition may represent the culmination of a chapter in the gallery’s storied history under founder Judith Singelis.

Originally from California and now based in upstate New York, Suzanne Onodera bridges abstraction and realism in richly layered paintings that capture the complexity and chaos of the natural world. Her compositions offer “a sublime floating world, simultaneously chaotic and unsettled, exalted and sublime,” she writes in her artist’s statement. Her brushstrokes are lush, gestural and physical, evoking landscapes not as they are, but as they are felt.

Kathy Moss, known for her stark and symbolic botanical forms, brings eight new contemplative and minimalist pieces to “Transcendence.” Her work uses silhouetted flowers, seed pods, and organic shapes as archetypes, what she calls “a poetic depiction of the internal self.” Presented in glistening oil and chalk on luminous surfaces, Moss’s paintings investigate dualities: beauty and darkness, fragility and power, concept and representation.

“She doesn’t usually do that pink,” said Singelis, pointing to one of Moss’s larger canvases in the show. “Kathy is really well known for the rosebuds and trees and there’s a fragility to her work, but these are very graphic, very solid.”

Installed in the light-filled rooms of Argazzi Art, with fall foliage just beyond the windows, “Transcendence” is a meditation on impermanence — of nature, of personal and artistic transformation, and perhaps of the space that houses it.

“The physical part is really hard,” said Singelis, reflecting on the work that goes into preparing and hanging an exhibit. “It took me three weeks to put this show together and there I am up on a ladder, just this morning. It’s not easy,” she continued.

There are the physical demands of curation but there is also the interdependent relationship between gallery and artist in an ever-changing and inconsistent art world. “Curating isn’t just about hanging art,” said Singelis, who said that she would love to find a successor, someone with whom she could share the vision and passion for Argazzi. “They have to really want to do this,” she said. “They have to have a passion for it, because it’s not easy.”

And so “Transcendence” is not only a remarkable pairing of two wonderful artists, it is also a moment of reflection for the gallery itself. As Argazzi Art contemplates its next chapter, this show reaffirms what has made it such a beloved and enduring presence: a commitment to beauty, depth and meaningful artistic relationships.

“Transcendence” opens on Oct. 11 with a reception from 3 to 5 p.m. The show will be on view until December 1.