News from Gallery 90

Work by photojournalist Clarence Sheppard and his son, composer, musician and painter, Kenya Lee Sheppard, opened the 2025 season at Gallery 90 over Memorial Day weekend and will be featured as part of the Ketcham Inn Foundation’s Juneteenth celebrations on June 22.

Drawing on images and stories from his 40-year career capturing evocative images that accompanied stories like the civil war in Ethiopia and Eritrea that appeared first in The New York Daily News, and later in Newsday, Sheppard relayed details of an extraordinary life through his photographs.

The youngest photographer employed by any New York newspaper at the time, he relied on his youthful experiences growing up in Harlem during the turbulent 1960s and early 1970s for the skills he needed to navigate this field, with its need to hustle and produce under pressure. He learned to meet the needs of editors, some of whom wanted straight, direct, and easy-to-recognize images, while others wanted more creativity.

And, as a young Black man, he soon learned the value of being open to every opportunity, to use his natural eclectic vision in his work.  “If it’s interesting, take a picture,” became his motto. By learning the industry, the artist said, he also learned about himself.

Son Kenya has continued to embrace an eclectic approach to his creative expression.  A multitalented painter and musician some have compared to Jimi Hendrix, he was the youngest performer invited to play at The Great South Bay Music Festival. His dynamic paintings borrow from hip-hop and street art, and engage the viewer with direct, piercing images. There is a playful, humorous side, as well, as with his “bust” of a mouse head, its outsized, iridescent ears composed of cut-up CD discs in a piece called “Deadmau5.”

On Sunday, June 22, with “Changing The Narrative,” The Ketcham Inn Foundation celebrated Juneteenth with a special program of speakers, including Tijuana Fulford, Natalie P. Byfield, Ph.D., Melanie Cardone-Leathers and Georgette Grier-Key; a food demonstration by historic cook Diane Schwindt; and a tour of the Mary Bell House on Railroad Avenue in Center Moriches.

A blessing led by Stanley Sneed from the Bell AME Zion Church, who introduced pastor Rev. Ghossein Miles, opened the event.

Opening July 4: “Bold And Colorful”

A surprising pairing of new work by sculptor John Cino and the exuberant, color-filled and playful paintings of recognizable East End images by self-taught artist Liz Duerschmidt helps usher in the summer season over July 4th weekend.

Cino’s textural, wall-hung sculpture, with forms that could suggest a variety of organic images, is coupled with Duerschmidt’s vivid and distinctive scenes that capture the spirit of Long Island culture, especially our love of trucks.

A fine, fun show to help celebrate summer.