PITTSBURGH, PA.- The Andy Warhol Museum announces the opening of the first solo museum exhibition of a contemporary expressionist painter with Pittsburgh roots.

Born in Pittsburgh in 1955, Connelly graduated from the Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, in 1977, and by the mid-1980s was recognized as a key figure among the New York-based Neo-expressionist painters. Known for using thickly layered brush strokes and bold palettes, his subjects have varied widely from religious imagery to cosmic visions, portraits, landscapes, and Victorian homes from the Philadelphia neighborhood where he now lives.

“He is a prodigious painter, working for nearly 40 years, which is why this first solo museum show feels long overdue,” said Jessica Beck, The Warhol’s Assistant Curator of Art, who arranged the exhibition along with Nicholas Chambers. My America represents his personal story through the decades, shown in a progression of works that interweave grand art historical themes with contemporary social commentary.”

Critics have compared Connelly’s art to Soutine and Van Gogh, but his urban landscapes also conjure the grittiness of the American realist George Bellows.

Connelly infuses an element of the surreal, seeming to portray untold narratives and an otherworldly dimension.

“Chuck Connelly’s lush, heavily layered canvases remind us of the resilience and force of painting. His surreal, uniquely tragicomic vision of the world is both familiar and yet completely new and foreign,” said Beck.

The Pittsburgh Biennial is co-organized by Carnegie Museum of Art, Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University, The Andy Warhol Museum, SPACE Gallery, Pittsburgh Glass Center, Mattress Factory, and Biennial founders Pittsburgh Filmmakers and Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. Each of the eight partnering institutions presents a distinct exhibition of work by artists connected to the Pittsburgh region, reflecting each organization’s curatorial focus.