Drew DiPasquale: Almost Something You Know

Friday night, November 6, the New Hampshire Art Association opened Almost Something You Know, a solo show of new abstract paintings by Drew DiPasquale, during Art ‘Round Town, Portsmouth’s first-Friday gallery walk. The largest piece in the room is a square canvas in pinks, olive, mustard and black, worked so heavily that the surface reads almost like terrain. Nothing in it is quite a picture, yet shapes keep resolving into things you could almost name. That near-recognition runs through the whole show, and it is where the title comes from.

Drew lives in Portsmouth and is the father of two. He built his practice by studying art history, working with artists here and abroad, and experimenting in the studio relentlessly.

His paintings have been in juried group shows at 3S Artspace, SeeSaw Gallery in Manchester and Drift Collective in Portsmouth, as well as in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. One of his paintings from 2025, “August, the animals will protect you,” was picked for NHAA’s Biennial 2.

How the paintings start

The new work is abstract, textured and made with mixed media. The starting point is the part worth knowing about. Drew lays raw canvas on his studio floor and lets ordinary life land on it. Footsteps, spills and drifting charcoal dust all leave marks. Those marks become the ground for each painting, and he responds to whatever shows up.

Part of the pull comes from his young kids’ imaginations. He also names Arshile Gorky, Philip Guston and Grace Hartigan as influences. Faces, figures and creatures keep turning up.

The gallery’s wall text covers the themes: control and chaos, and making room for imperfection. Drew puts his own process this way. He starts with an idea, then spends the time answering it, “wrong shape after wrong shape, until it works.”

Go see it

The show runs November 4 to 29 at the Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery, 136 State Street in Portsmouth. It is free. The gallery is open Tuesday to Thursday 11 to 5, Friday and Saturday 11 to 6, and Sunday 12 to 5. It is closed Mondays.

The best day to catch him is Sunday, November 22, from 1 to 3 PM. That is the Meet the Artists afternoon, with Drew and the gallery’s other two November artists, Julie Peck and Dr. Adhi Two Owls.

The title is an invitation. Take your time with each piece and see what it reminds you of.

Drew’s website, drewdipasquale.com, has originals, limited-edition prints printed locally in Portsmouth and postcards. He also welcomes studio visits at the Button Factory Studios in Portsmouth. You can find him on Instagram, and the show’s catalog is on the NHAA website.

Drew is a friend of the Loop, and we would have written this anyway.

Showing work on the Seacoast? Artists and galleries can tell us about their shows.