It has been four years since the artist David Geiser died unexpectedly at home in Springs at the age of 73. Since then his son, Jake Ruehl, has been busy trying to organize Geiser's vast body of work, much of which is in storage locally, and much more with a gallery in Portland, Ore.
Mr. Ruehl has organized a one-night exhibition to celebrate his father's work, Friday from 6 to 9 at LTV Studios in Wainscott. The show features an extensive selection of unframed paintings on plywood, along with copies of the first of over 25 journals begun when Geiser was 28 years old and continued to the week of his death.
Most of the unframed pieces were made during the artist's last 10 years. They are unframed because of the cost of storage and shipping, but two friends of Mr. Ruehl who are carpenters will be at the reception and can add a basic frame to any purchased piece. "Framing will give them the stability they need," said Mr. Ruehl. There will be between 20 and 30 larger pieces and another 20 to 30 smaller ones.
"He kept stuff in storage units, in people's basements, in my mom's basement, all over the place," said his son, whose mother is the actress Mercedes Ruehl. "I've tried to gather pieces and arrange them into groups -- framed, unframed, drawings, and notebooks."
The event at LTV, which Mr. Ruehl described as a party, with beer and pizza on offer, is a prelude to a much more extensive exhibition that will happen at Ashawagh Hall in June, to coincide with the artist's birthday weekend and the summer solstice.
