ORONO – Familiar and comfortable, yet mysterious and provocative, landscapes are the focus of an exhibition of paintings by New York-based artist Charles Yoder Nov. 1-Dec. 14 at the University of Maine.

“Natural Resources: The Paintings of Charles Yoder,” marks the debut of the University of Maine Department of Art exhibition series in Carnegie Hall.

Exhibits developed by a department of art curator will occupy former gallery space of the University’s Museum of Art, which has relocated to Norumbega Hall in Downtown Bangor.

The Yoder show will feature 23 paintings, with landscapes by moonlight exhibited in one gallery and landscapes seen in daylight on display in a second gallery.

A public opening reception for the Yoder exhibit is 5-7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, at Carnegie Hall. Viewing hours for the department of art galleries are 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Yoder will present a public slide lecture at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30, at Carnegie Hall.

Yoder’s oils on canvas, some 6 feet or larger, offer environmental portraits of natural beauty that is as intimate as it is elusive. Within his contemporary works of art are familiar images of trees and flora, sunlight and deep shadows, blue sky and moonlight that stir personal associations and memories. Yet the literal descriptions are also abstract, giving voice to the yet unseen, the reality behind the perception, the poetic complexity of mystery and spirit.

According to UMaine artist Michael Lewis, guest curator for the show, Yoder unites the intangible with the physical, with the use of “color and value changes, the quality and character of varied illumination, the rhythm of brushwork and mark-making, the sensual textures of the paint surface, the complexity and feel of space, the animated gestures and solid presence of forms.”

Yoder, who is originally from Maine, studied at the University of Maine Department of Art from 1966 to 1969.

The exhibition was arranged in cooperation with the Woodward Gallery in New York City, and is partially sponsored by the University of Maine’s Cultural Affairs committee.

For information, call the department of art at 581-3245.