Justin Canha Adelphi University is pleased to host an exhibition featuring drawings and paintings by Justin Canha, from October 25 to October 30 in the Ruth S. Harley University Center Gallery, 1 South Avenue, Garden City. Justin, 19, is an accomplished artist and autistic.

This exhibit is part of the University’s Disabilities Awareness Week celebrations. Justin’s story is an example of triumph of the spirit, mind, and body. A free reception will be held on Monday, October 26, at 6:00 p.m.

Justin, who is represented by the Ricco/Maresca Gallery in New York City, began drawing around age five. His work mostly comprised of cartoon characters and simple illustrations, were used to communicate episodes of daily life. Art has always been an important means of communication for him and continues to serve as a bridge to the neurotypical world. As a child, Justin was completely non-verbal, but demonstrated exceptional visual strengths. Through the use of video, storyboards, and sign language, his parents were able to introduce him to language and engage him in a visual dialogue, which served as a conduit into the sequestered realm of his autism.

Justin’s work is remarkable in both its depth and diversity ranging from charcoal, watercolor, and oil portraits of people and animals to comics and cartoon animation. The esthetic value of Justin’s art has only recently been recognized following his discovery by the New York art world with the showing of a selection of charcoals at the Outsider Fair in 2008. By more closely examining his animations frame by frame, it has become apparent that an enormous trove of imagery remains to be uncovered. The hundreds of frames crafted over the years to build his animations contain fantastic imagery that stand alone as individual works of art, stunning for their impact and simplicity.

The Ruth S. Harley University Center Gallery is open Sunday through Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. For more information about this and other upcoming art exhibitions, please visit http://www.adelphi.edu/artmuseum/exhibitions/