Heading west on 41st — my destination Fifth Avenue — I was struck by the beautiful paintings I saw in the windows of the Mid-Manhattan Library. As I walked on, I learned that these paintings were part of an exhibition: Peter Bynum:Illuminated Paint, The Interconnectedness of All Life. This exhibit is one in a series by the Mid-Manhattan Library called, “What Inspires Artists.”

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Bynum creates three-dimensional illuminated paintings on glass. At the exhibition I learned that he “opens new territory for painting by exposing paint’s intrinsic branching behavior, and then illuminating the complex nervous system it creates.” What was especially interesting was that, “Bynum devised an innovative method of pressuring paint between panes of tempered glass, which he then layers through a precise bracketing system, and backlights with LED-powered screens.” As a viewer, you see these spidery and colorful paintings that seem to be moving.

The artwork will be on display until January 25th 2015. On Tuesday, October 7th at 6:30pm, there will be a discussion between the painter and senior art librarian Arezoo Moseni about Bynum’s illuminated paintings.