Newbury Street turns into a haven of traditional and contemporary art

Take four eclectic artists and squeeze their wildly varying visions of 18th-century Spain, landscapes, inked wire creations, and household objects into two Newbury Street museums, and what you get is a Groundhog's Day weekend filled with brand new art to help brighten up the dreary weather.

Let's begin our weekend art excursion at the Chase Gallery, which features the new works of Francisco Benítez and Allen Whiting through Feb. 27. Benítez' far-flung life - which has included stints in New York City, France, Spain, and a Native American Reservation - is the main inspiration for his richly colorful and intense work. He takes the training he gained at the classically oriented St. John's College and the Art Students League in New York, and infuses it with intense lighting, elegance, and a uniquely contemporary edge. Consider it an homage to history, art, and creativity all in one.

Whiting, a Martha's Vineyard native, gives new meaning to the typical landscape work by using the vibrant color and unique light of his own home. For those that have never been to the Vineyard, Whiting's paintings offer a personal insight from a man who knows it better than most. If you're not convinced, check out the list of big names who have picked up the artist's work - it ranges from James Taylor to Diane Sawyer to Martha's Vineyard's second biggest fan, former president Bill Clinton. And the Chase Gallery appreciates his work as well - this will be Whiting's ninth show there.

Next stop: Gallery NAGA, just down the road, where the art is a bit more contemporary and a bit less rooted in tradition. Here you'll find new bodies of work from Yizhak Elyashiv and Stuart Ober, featured until Feb. 24.

Elyashiv is used to working on a rather large format - his six-by-ten-foot prints have been collected by major museums for a while now. The work featured at Gallery NAGA, however, brings down the girth by nine-tenths to make an innovative new form of expression. The final product includes images formed by inked expanses of wire pressed down upon a field of precise lines. It sounds confusing - and it is - but there's a message behind the madness. It's a mixture of spontaneity and rigidity, of haphazardness with the ordinary... and is a sight to behold. The exhibit is worth checking out, if only to decipher the meaning for yourself.

Ober, a self-taught artist, deals with subjects that aren't quite as abstract at first glance. A well-known painter of household objects in less-than-normal circumstances, Ober's latest works feature unplugged lamps emanating light, comfy armchairs atop dining tables, and vegetables scattered upon an ornamental mantle. It's quirkiness mixed with delicate strokes and soft, simple color - fun and art in a blissful combination. A reception for both artists and the public will be held tonight, from 6 to 8 p.m.