(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – Call Me Melville, featuring Herman Meville-inspired paintings by Berkshire artists Paul Graubard and Rebecca Weinman, opens at Ferrin Gallery on Saturday, May 26, 2012, and runs through June 17, 2012. There will be an opening reception with the artists on Saturday, May 26, from 4 to 6 pm.

Call Me Melville coincides with the City of Pittsfield’s celebration by the same name, honoring Herman Melville, whose house he fondly referred to as Arrowhead still stands and operates as a museum today.

Graubard and Weinman, two contemporary artists who live and work in the Berkshires, not far from Melville’s Arrowhead, share connections to Melville and his epic literary work, Moby-Dick.  Weinman, a descendant of Melville, will present a recent series of portraits as part of the upcoming exhibition Call Me Melville. Graubard, a self-taught artist, will exhibit a new series of paintings based on Melville’s book, Moby-Dick.

Rebecca Weinman explains her connection to the project. “When I was approached about participating in the show, I did not feel right reacting to Melville directly with my works. It was too big of a fish to fry,” says Weinman. “Instead, I continued in the direction I have been exploring for the past few years, which is using the interaction of the figure with the natural world as a vehicle to explore internal states, which is sort of Moby Dick-esque, isn’t it.”  On view will be Weinman’s most recent series of figurative works depicting nude and semi-nude women in wooded settings. Weinman, a resident of Stockbridge, is a 2007 graduate of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Paul Graubard is known for his collage paintings that reference stories from the Bible, including many that feature Jonah and the whale. His recent works created specifically for the exhibition, Call Me Melville, directly refer to Melville’s famous tale, Moby-Dick. Known primarily as a folk or outsider artist, Graubard employs rich colors and simple forms in complex composition using acrylic paint, fabric, paper and objects arranged on canvas and wood. “Like literature, dance and music, painting requires rhythm and flow, movement, action and tension. I work to make my paintings twirl and surprise,” says Graubard. Paul Graubard’s paintings have been exhibited extensively throughout the Northeast in group and solo exhibitions including the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Md. Graubard, a resident of Lenox married to poet, Karen Chase, turns 80 on the opening day of Call Me Melville, May 26, 2012.

Ferrin Gallery, established 1979, is nationally known as a contemporary gallery specializing in figural sculpture and studio ceramics. The gallery works closely with private collectors, institutions and the media as a source for works by both established and emerging artists. Located in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, it is equidistant from New York City and Boston.