Immensity of Blue at Jane Lombard Gallery

All images courtesy of the artist Jane Lombard Gallery

By ANGGI PANDE August 8th, 2026

Summer in New York City looks like open-toed sandals on pavement, seeking relief in air conditioned buildings, iced drinks and battery-powered fans on hand and a light sheen of sweat. But among New York’s urgency that stops for no one, Jane Lombard’s Immensity of Blue gathers landscapes that showcase works set in picturesque California, where time seems to ebb and flow like an ocean current.

With portraits of the west coast, the group exhibition features 7 artists across painting, performance and installation, with meditative practices and subject matter that plays into nostalgia and elements of a memorable summer. The space urges you to indulge in a rare moment of peace with others, and appreciate the beauty of mundane and idle activity.

Jeff Wallace’s work (2024) comes in threes and comprises of found book covers. Its varying shades of yellow have faded and bleached with time, and textured layers curl inwards as a result of weathering. Wallace presents these sunbathed objects like how skin burns red or develops into a tan under the sun.

Adam de Boer, Sunday at Echo Park Square (2025)

Adam de Boer’s triptych occupies a large section of the main wall. Sunday at Echo Park Square (2025) is made on linen with traditional Javanese batik techniques that relate to Boer’s Indonesian-Dutch heritage. Created within the timeframe of debates about immigration and tensions among authoritative rule, his triptych pictures people of marginalised communities basking in relaxation.

In a phone conversation, Boer tells me he is inspired by Seurat’s depiction of people in Sunday Afternoon at La Grande Jatt, along with Monet’s paintings of everyday people–something that felt radical in the 19th century, so left-field in the art world at the time. Fast forward to now, where Boer’s corner of Los Angeles is shared with people from all walks of life, his triptych is an amalgamation of his own heritage and the shared cultures that define the city.

To think we’ve never had the freedom to lounge and unwind, to enjoy the sun reflecting upon the water, to watch palm trees sway in the rich blue sky, and share this idleness with strangers on the grass. Boer, having lived in Yogyakarta, London and now Los Angeles, understands more than anyone what relaxation looks like across the globe.

Allan Wexler, East Meets West (2022)

In the centre of the room is Allan Wexler’s East Meets West (2022). Inspired by Japanese-American performance artist Dan Kwong, Wexler takes a fragment of a Pacific Ocean beach complete with a lawn chair, a beach towel and a rucksack strewn across the sand. The sand is combed through, and the three objects are isolated from one another to mirror plants in a Japanese dry zen garden. Wexler’s tools are meticulously laid out on a canvas sheet, and combines ancient Japanese techniques to modern, western living.

Similarly, Howard Smith’s repetitions on canvas, with bright blues and pinks that look like swimming pool tiles, urges you to ponder over each stroke. The colours are pleasant to the eye, with pastel shades on Above and Below (2022), and uniform like in Colbalt Violet #3 (1979) and Manganese Blue #2 (1978), painted on a larger canvas. Between Wexler’s installation and Smith’s paintings, the two artists present the finished product of a meditative practice, from meandering indents on sand to intentional brushstrokes on a canvas.

Katherine Blackburne’s paintings are rife with inflatable animals that surround figures clad in swimwear. She captures the magic of these vibrant characters, transparent but bright against the figure, often faceless or averting eye contact, deep in thought. It plays into nostalgia and mystifies the animal caricatures, like a vivid recollection of summertime through the lens of a child. The world and surroundings feel larger than life, the figure barely contained on the canvas in Stingray (The Fall) (2026).

Katherine Blackburne, Last Chance (2026)

What the gallery expresses well is the transition from abstract shapes to detailed landscapes, contrasting each artist while emphasising their strongest qualities. Eva Struble’s Panamint (2025) and Karst (2025) look at summer landscapes faded into obscurity, prioritising streaks of opposing colours and texture over accuracy of the environment. Conversely, the exploration of childhood and the growing pains of adulthood are explored in Ayse Wilson’s Blue Diving In (2026) and Pink Diving In (2026). A signature in her work is Wilson’s doll-like subjects that are stylised and buoyant, reflecting the playfulness of summer.

This exhibition is emblematic of a leisurely summer, but having lived through record-breaking heatwaves across Europe and the UK, I question the novelty of the warm seasons and just how much our surroundings will change with our accelerating climate crises. Boer’s artwork, he tells me, is usually painted on the spot, and was recently described as pieces made in compressed time. 'I would say half of the paintings that I've made in the last few years,' he says, 'you could not stand on that corner and see the same thing.'

I ended my visit by observing Blackburne’s painting Last Chance (2026), a rich blue sky with wispy clouds that spell out its title in the corner of inflatable animals. I think of Eva Struble’s dreamlike landscapes, its abstraction like a faded memory, and I wonder what there is left of summer as the warmth turns unbearable to walk in and as the water dries up.

Immensity of Blue at Jane Lombard Gallery, New York City, is open from 26 June to 14 August.