It's always a red-letter day in the Pittsburgh art scene when we have the chance to see more paintings by Felix de la Concha.

	VWH Campbell, Post-Gazette photos These three panels are among 146 painted by Felix de la Concha in "Penn Avenue, From Pearl St. to Gross St." Each was painted on site in one day, explaining the changing weather conditions and truncated automobiles. They appear in the artist's solo show "Penn on Braddock" at Concept Art Gallery, Regent Square. Click photo for larger image.

Perhaps best known for his prodigious series of 365 views of the Cathedral of Learning and his tour de force at Clayton, de la Concha has moved on to other locales. But his legacy is enlarged by the current viewing at Concept Art Gallery of his 146 canvases representing a section of Penn Avenue in the neighborhood of Allegheny Cemetery.

A cumulative work spanning the period 1999-2001, the Penn Avenue group records the appearance of three blocks of motley buildings along a less-than-gleaming thoroughfare. The site reflects the artist's frequent attraction to neighborhoods that, if not entirely down and out, are certainly neither "up" nor "in."

This panorama is made up of groups of three or four small canvas panels representing a specific portion of the street elevation; there are enough small overlaps to ensure seeing the continuity of the depiction. However, we are not given a uniform, straight-on view from panel to panel.

The shifting of vision from a single point of view to discrete, if linked, vistas begins to subtly shift the perspective and the stance of the buildings themselves.

The content of each panel is further distinguished from its immediate companions by the particular conditions of season, weather and time of day. De la Concha beautifully captures these evanescent qualities, and, when they are allied to the slightly elastic perspectives, the artist is once again in the fullest control of the game he sets himself, a game involving place, light, space and, above all, vision.

De la Concha frequently shifted perspective while painting the series. This is another view of the house with the awning in the far right panel above. Click photo for larger image.

Then, the artist recrosses the avenue to stand within the view just captured in the three or four small canvases. He looks to each side, along the sidewalk, and records those vistas as independent compositions yet contributing elements in the all-embracing evocation of the thoroughfare.

And finally, de la Concha singles out a detail, often fugitive, from within each group of canvases and enlarges it, demanding in yet another way that we look carefully at what he is offering.

Often, a given object in a particular view will reappear in other canvases, even in a view of the other side of the street but seen obliquely from this vantage point.

Such recurring motifs further link together the various aspects of the streetscape, creating a sort of cat's cradle moving from painting to painting, along the gallery wall or across the gallery space, allowing us, obliging us, to follow the intricate game, the scrupulous observation of the artist.

Not long after seeing the show, I again drove along Penn Avenue, keeping an eye open for de la Concha's three blocks. And eventually there they were, in no way exceptional, and still in a sort of limbo of age, decline, innovation and hope. The contrast between the actual experience of the site and the painter's re-creation of it is extraordinary; it is not so very often that we have the chance to see so intensely the ability of art to distill and enrich reality.

The visitor to this show also will have the opportunity to examine a group of more recent canvases recording scenes in and around Boone, N.C., where de la Concha recently lived. The difference in scale, in palette and even in handling is noticeable. De la Concha catches the relaxed openness of this Piedmont town just as keenly as he perceived the convolutions and compression of Penn Avenue.

And not to be slighted is a group of small canvases on the landing at the head of the gallery's stairs. We are back in Pittsburgh again, with views of various parts of the city, most of which recall the Cathedral series. These delectable works are among the last de la Concha executed before leaving this city.

"Penn on Braddock" continues through April 30 at Concept Art Gallery, 1031 S. Braddock Ave., Regent Square. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and until 8 p.m. Thursdays; call 412-242-9200.