LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ -- Local artist Jeff Epstein will return to his roots for an exhibition of selected paintings at the Rider University Art Gallery next month.

Epstein, a native of Lawrence Township whose late father Theodore served as Rider librarian for 29 years until his retirement in 1980, will show paintings featuring the host campus and other parts of Mercer County in an exhibit titled, "Rider and Other Places."

The exhibition will run from Thursday, November 5 through Sunday, December 6 in the gallery. A reception for the artist at the gallery is scheduled for Thursday, November 5, from 5 to 7 p.m.

Epstein, who currently resides in Brooklyn, NY, has an affinity for painting suburban landscape scenes and other objects at night. His lively, expressionistic style uses very broad, fluid brush strokes. While his paintings seem very loose and spontaneous, they are actually very well structured and organized, and often focus on sections rather than an entire object or scene.

"Usually the shapes and colors made by light and shadows falling across a surface is what attracts me," said Epstein in an exhibit catalog interview conducted by Harry Naar, professor of fine arts at Rider and gallery director. "I'm particularly drawn to the clean lines and large shapes of institutional buildings, like some of those on Rider's campus.

"In addition to the interesting sorts of light found at night, I enjoy the mood it brings to the work," he added. "Since a lot of the places I paint, especially the schools, are more familiar in their daytime guise, seeing them at night gives them a strangeness that I appreciate. It's a sort of 'after hours' feeling that combines quiet with a slightly uneasy excitement."

Epstein holds a B.A. in art from Moravian College and a M.F.A. in painting from Brooklyn College, where he studied with Lennart Anderson, Lois Dodd, and John Walker. He also spent time studying with Edith Isaac-Rose and Hughie Lee-Smith through Artworks in Princeton, and with Rudy Ackerman in Florence, Italy.

He has shown his work in eight solo exhibitions and more than 30 group shows, in such forums as the New Jersey State Museum, Noyse Museum, Villanova University Art Gallery, and New York exhibit halls La Mamma La Galleria, 800 Washington Square East Galleries, and Prince Street Gallery. His most recent area exhibit was hosted by Ellarslie, the Trenton City Museum, in 1995.

Epstein's work has earned him numerous accolades, including the New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship and Purchase and Merit Awards from the Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission and Mercer County Community College.

The exhibit is free and open to the public, and is funded in part through a grant from the Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission. The Rider University Art Gallery is located on the third floor of the Student Center on the University's Lawrenceville campus. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 2 to 8 p.m., and Friday through Sunday, 2 to 5 p.m. For more information on the exhibit, contact Naar at (609) 895-5588, or the University's department of fine arts at (609) 896-5168.

Rider University's Lawrenceville campus is located five miles south of Princeton and three miles north of Trenton on Route 206 in Lawrence Township, NJ. The campus is one-half mile south of exit 7A of Interstate 95.