NEW YORK, NY.- "I am drawn to the urban landscape, especially area of urban decay" says artist Charlene Weisler. "I want to capture a slice of New York City that will soon no longer exist." Weisler's Urban Montage series of street art inspired photographs will be featured in a solo exhibition at the Kevin Barry Gallery (located at 25 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island) with an opening night reception on Thursday, April 16 from 6p-9p.

Kamillah Hanks, Executive Director of the Downtown Staten Island Council and curator of the gallery, sees art as a way to spur the redevelopment of downtown Staten Island. She says, "We would like to attract artists and art patrons from all parts of the city. When they come to Staten Island they will see a community where art can flourish."

Charlene Weisler's Urban Montage photography exhibition features her most recent portfolio of work with images taken in Manhattan and Brooklyn in 2007 and 2008.

With a solo exhibition in Japan this past summer, Weisler's work has recently been profiled in the New York Sun and in several magazines. Her current Urban Montage body of work uses peeling, eroding and weathered street art as a template for photographic collage. "I don't photograph acts of graffiti per se. I am drawn to the decay and chaos and how that becomes part of the art," she said.

As the photographer, Ms. Weisler searches through the vast urban territory looking for elements that can become independent images. "There's a secretive nature to my photographs," Ms. Weisler said. "I am capturing forms you may not notice when walking by a wall covered with graffiti. And the landscape changes quickly. Many of my photographs are of images that no longer exist."