As the days get longer and the weather warms up, a new Glendale gallery invites visitors to daydream about outdoor bike rides and all the experiences they bring.

Through a series of photographs taken during his frequent trips, Tom Wilson’s exhibition, ”Divine Spot,” will bring the beauty of the natural world and the cacophony of urban life to the walls of Ptolemy, located at 67-33 Central Ave., from March 14 to April 13.

A science teacher at the Urban Assembly Institute of Math and Science for Young Women, Wilson focuses on natural landscapes in his practice, but also is influenced by the built environments he encounters as he navigates the city on his bike.

“I’ll always have a camera with me, and whenever I’m out riding, I’ll just kind of see something, either it’s a landscape or a person or whatever catches my eye or looks different from what my normal bike rides are, I’ll stop and take a photo,” he said.

The photos also carry mystery and uncertainty, Wilson said, as it may not be immediately clear why an unconventional landscape looks the way it does. In one photo, smoke peeks out from behind boulders such that its source remains undetectable. The exhibit does not provide any answers, either, leaving the viewer to contemplate what those situations really were.

“I’m really interested to see the impression that people have when they see something that I think isn’t quite obvious right away or what questions people might have,” Wilson said.

He said also that the photographs give him a way to remember his trips, similar to how some people make albums documenting vacations.

Coinciding with the exhibition will be the launch of a collaborative photography book between Wilson and Patrick Reynolds, the gallery’s founder. Entitled “What is the Continental Divide?,” the book chronicles the former’s 2021 bike trip from Mexico to Canada. Photos from his journey make up the first section of the book, while journal entries can be found in the second half.

“It’s nice because the photo series can kind of exist as its own singular entity, but then if you want that additional context, or if you want the narrative to attach to it, you have this written documentation as well, along with an index that connects the entries in the journals to the images within the book,” Reynolds said.

“Hopefully, it encourages other people to do similar things like go for a bike ride or try something that they didn’t think they could do, or see a new place, or take more photos or anything like that,” Wilson said.

The pair met when Reynolds moved in with Wilson’s brother after he first came to New York, and their shared love of photography brought them together.

“Pat’s always been a really great friend, and he’s always been super supportive of my photos in a way that I haven’t experienced with anyone else,” Wilson said.

Although Reynolds said having his own gallery was “an abstraction in my mind” for a while, he opened Ptolemy in November after he saw a storefront open up in Glendale, where he has lived since 2022.

He also hopes to host events, programs and workshops at the gallery. He said he is adding a small shop, where guests can buy items such as records, mugs and art books.

“I always love meeting my neighbors and meeting more people around the neighborhood, so I’m hopeful that the gallery can be something that really serves the community around here,” Reynolds said.

Admission to Ptolemy is free, and the gallery is open from 12 to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.

QueensChronicle.com