The Butler Institute of American Art normally doesn’t show temporary exhibitions in Beecher Court.

Executive Director Louis Zona made an exception for Teo Nguyen.

“Beecher Court we leave for large landscapes, 19th and 20th century landscapes (from the permanent collection),” Zona said. “We took those works down temporarily to put up this exhibit, and I’m glad we did.”

“Finding My Way,” which is on view now at the Butler but officially opens on Sunday, features large-scale landscape paintings from Nguyen, who was born in Vietnam and moved to the United States as a teenager.

“He’s an amazing talent who has recreated the landscape for me,” Zona said. “His works are minimalistic, less is more. Just enormous skies with beautifully rendered structures at the low horizon line. It’s just powerful work.”

Zona compared his paintings to the work of Andrew Wyeth.

“The colors of winter, the browns and greens and the darkened trees, they’re just beautifully done,” he said. “Just when you think you’ve seen it all, someone comes up with something that attracts your attention.”

Nguyen lives in Minneapolis, and his work has been featured in galleries in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. Zona credited one of the Butler’s board members, Dr. John Dunne, with bringing the artist to his attention.

“He called me very excited, ‘You’re going to love this guy’s work.’ He brought me a book, and I just fell in love with it,” Zona said.

Nguyen paints with acrylics and instead of painting on canvas, he creates the massive works on vellum paper. Zona said he believes the texture of the paper gives the sky in Nguyen’s paintings a “fluffiness” that enriches the work.

Nguyen has said, “As an immigrant and an artist, I have learned to embrace the American spirit of freedom that says if you see a road that interests you, go ahead: venture down it. Even so, I am always a stranger to what I see, always slightly outside, finding in what is ordinary to others something tender and strange.”

While the Butler exhibition focuses on Nguyen’s landscapes, he also paints abstracts and explores other topics in his work.

In a recent MinnPost interview, Nguyen said, “Some people, especially artists, say, ‘How do you move from this photorealistic work to abstract works?’ I don’t have any explanation other than, ‘Do you want to speak one language or multiple languages?’ I would like to speak multiple languages in terms of my art. That’s my lexicon. Those are my vocabularies. I don’t shy away from anything. If there’s a material that I want to explore and work with, I just kind of go for it.

If you go …

WHAT: “Teo Nguyen: Finding My Way”

WHEN: Sunday through Nov. 14 with meet-the-artist reception from 1 to 3 p.m. Sept. 26. Hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

WHERE: Butler Institute of American Art, 524 Wick Ave., Youngstown

HOW MUCH: Admission is free. For more information, go to www.butlerart.com or call 330-743-1107.