“Fables of the Reconstruction: New Collage Paintings by William Hudders” spotlights the recent visual narration works of the Easton-based artist, Jan. 13 - Feb. 6, David E. Rodale and Rodale Family Galleries, Baum School of Art, Allentown, with the “Third Thursday” opening reception held 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. Jan. 16.

“I’m really excited to be in the Baum show,” says Hudders. “I was a student in the 1970s at the Baum School when I was eight years old.” He has many pleasant family memories of his time there.

Working out of his studio in the Karl Stirner Arts Building, Easton, Hudders is well-known as an oil painter.

Having been encouraged to paint from life and discouraged from working in collage while in college, Hudders says, “It was only during Covid that I began making collages again. I had a lot of time on my hands.” This enabled Hudders “to go back to something I put away for 30 years.”

For “Landscape” (2024; acrylic & collage on panel, 48 in. x 66 in.), Hudders found inspiration with “Ejiri in Suruga Province,” a woodblock print by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai depicting a hat and paper floating in the wind.

“All my collages are inspired by a lot of different things. You can say James Joyce and Monte Python. Just modern culture and the craziness of all the imagery that we live within,” says Hudders. “They are inspired by everything around me.”

While images cut out of magazines and other printed sources form the core of Hudders’ cut and paste work, he says, “I’m trying to do collage, but push it in a new direction.” This he accomplishes with paintbrushes.

“I add color washes, thin washes of acrylic paint to sort of push the images back,” says Hudders. He explains that this gives him more control of the imagery. “It allows the images to flow into one another.”

Raised in Emmaus, Hudders graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in 1986. He studied with Neil Welliver while at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving an MFA in 1991. Hudders is a professor at Northampton Community College, Bethlehem Township.

“Fables of the Reconstruction: New Collage Paintings by William Hudders,” David E. Rodale and Rodale Family Galleries, The Baum School of Art, 510 W. Linden St., Allentown. Gallery hours: 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. Monday - Thursday, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Closed Sunday. 610-433-0032, https://www.baumschool.org/

“Gallery View” is a column about artists, exhibitions and galleries. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com