In her City Gallery exhibition, My Indy, Roberta Avidor adeptly captures Indianapolis’ vibrant ethos via her place-based watercolor and oil paintings. With these works, the viewer gets a taste of familiar Indianapolis scenes through the eyes of Avidor – a lens that reflects the vibrancy of her own life.

Avidor is an Indiana native, but much of her life has been spent living elsewhere. Michigan shaped her formative years, New York molded her career path, and Minneapolis/St. Paul is where she raised her family. Fortunately for us, however, she moved back to Indianapolis four years ago and has since become a welcome talent in the art scene.

Roberta Avidor, *City Market*, oil on canvas

Avidor has always enjoyed sketching the world around her. In the early-1970s, she moved to New York to pursue a degree in illustration from Parsons School of Design. During this time, she developed a passion for urban sketching, which she still practices today. After graduating, Avidor worked as a storyboard and comp artist for various advertising agencies. Though a career as an illustrator meant grueling deadlines, Avidor states that it taught her how to work quickly and to the point. After moving to Minnesota, she continued her work as an illustrator. However, a visit to Indianapolis encouraged her to toss out her “now dried-out markers” and take up the pencils and paintbrushes. Avidor posits, “After visiting Indy and experiencing the Cultural Trail, I saw what unique, urban setting it offered.” Indianapolis provided a bevy of new material for the artist to portray through its many different landscapes, cityscapes, and the people who moved through them.

Avidor’s ability to capture the vitality of local institutions is especially apparent in her work City Market. Her rendering of the historic location is stupendous in its juxtaposition. While a bustling crowd moves about in the foreground, a dramatic scene of light and shadow unfolds above, with bright rays filtering through clerestory windows.

Roberta Avidor, *Canal Bridge*, oil on canvas

Avidor captures a snapshot of a calmer nocturnal scene in Canal Bridge. The artist cites figures as an essential element in her work, lending both to the scale and life of her paintings. Various subjects take an evening stroll under the orange canal bridge that Avidor describes as one of her favorite locales in Indianapolis. I am especially fond of the tenebrous-ripple of the water in the foreground, which contrasts strategically with the glow of the streetlights.

Through these works, Avidor would like viewers to remember the liveliness of Indianapolis in pre-pandemic times. Many of these paintings are snapshots of scenes from before COVID-19, recorded when Hoosiers moved freely about the city’s streets, businesses, and buildings. It is hopeful that one day we will safely return to our former reality - but until then, we have Avidor’s work to jog our collective memories.

MyIndy will be on view in the City Gallery during the month of January. All works are available for purchase and can be viewed online through our virtual gallery and in-person during regular gallery hours from 9 AM - 5 PM, Monday through Friday.