PHOTO GALLERY: Abstracts Shout 'Outloud' at Glenview Mansion

"The artist paints the life deeper, richer, more meaningful than we see it in our everyday reality,"Alexey Zoob writes in his artists statement.

Showing his work alongside the Outloud Artists through Tuesday in the art gallery at , Zoob paints whimsical landscapes and Modigliani-esque portraits with the colorful dashes and floating forms of Marc Chagall cast into verdant promenades and romantic balconies. Classically trained in his native Russia but with a contemporary perspective, Zoob conceptualizes artistic expression as a social imperative.

"It is our language and we must speak it correctly and understandably," said the young artist, who is featured in depth in the "" series on Gaithersburg Patch and North Potomac Patch.

Color was the idea behind this show, said exhibit curator Julie Farrell.

"Alexey's colors, I want to dream in. His paintings are dreamlike and fantastical. They segue well into the abstract pieces of the Outloud group," she said.

Outloud is a group of abstract painters who gathered under the tutelage of Kensington-based abstract painter Helen Corning at the Yellow Barn Studio and Gallery in Glen Echo Park. They exhibit work together around the Washington metropolitan area.

There are more than 40 pieces in the Glenview exhibit, and they all exemplify an unabated freedom of spirit and playfulness, Farrell said.

Tory Cowles, an Outloud artist who also has been , commented on one of her interactive paintings.

Featuring a dart board against a deep blue frame that she constructed herself, Cowles's mixed media piece "#576" does the same for her that play does for children, she said.

"Children are expected to play for their psychological and emotional development. Adults need the same kind of play for their health," said Cowles, who numbers her paintings instead of giving them titles.

"I want people to approach these pieces without preconceptions," she said.

This January, at in Alexandria, VA. Her work is on and also will be featured in August's show at Glenview Mansion.

Donna McGee, another Outloud painter  and in this month's Glenview exhibit, has a fascination with ancient scripts. Traces of the old Irish Ogham script are embedded into several of her abstract paintings.

"My paintings are made up of layers and different strokes," McGee said. "'Ogham II' is from a body of work created for a previous solo show and features a layer of gold paint underneath to make the painting glow."

With vibrant reds and oranges overlayed on the gold, McGee's painting stands in sharp contrast to Michiyo Mizuuchi's cloudy blue "Stay Cool," and Jacqui Crocetta's pale green and blue "Summer Cadence."

A July 10 reception marking the exhibit's opening at Glenview featured live music by Connecticut-based Brooker and Bullen who played Celtic, Brazilian, bluegrass, folk and jazz, including some of their own songs.

Guests commented on how this was the first art reception they had attended that served vodka.

"Artists supply their own food and drink for guests. For the musicians it's a great opportunity for daytime gigs during this economic downturn. They have a chance to play for an audience, and they can sell their CDs during the performances," Farrell said.

For more information about this and upcoming exhibits at Glenview Mansion, click here.