Area shows....

In the flurry of holiday preparations you may, like I did, need to make the time to attend two art shows in the area. A theme of both exhibitions focuses on conceptualizing nature. The Millbrook School galleries have opened with work by Scot Wittman. This solo show explores cloning technology. Based in the New York / Philadelphia metro area, Wittman chairs a department at Rutgers Prep school in New Jersey and is president of ISAIA, (Independent School Art Instructors Association). Wittman’s map silhouette series blends the humorous, the charming, and the grotesque in aesthetically pleasing combinations of crisp glossy surface isolated on buff pristine sheets of paper. A small sampling of isolated images of state birds cut from city maps provides commentary on the nation’s varying cloning laws, with audio elements included. Viewers are invited to hear the birdcalls and fruitless phone calls from each location. The exhibition included varied installations such as a hanging sculpture, chocolate covered skeleton, large-scale photography, live video-feed, and Houdini memorabilia. According to the statement, Wittman visited stem cell institutes in the United States and Europe to collect stories and rare documentation. Available were business type cards with his Twitter name, where you can search or follow his tweets of breaking stem cell news… like the oldest living tree, and the immortality of Henrietta Lack. Really, a glut of information fuels the imagery and promises the viewer interest in trivial, significant and, because it is art: aesthetic merit. Whether Wittman is an advocate or a critic of cloning remains unclear. The presentation straddles art and science and is held in both the Warner Gallery and the MASC (Math and Science Center) Gallery. The galleries are open: 8AM - 4PM, Monday through Friday and 8AM - 1PM on Saturdays.

Another art show of interest is at the Eckert Gallery, across the border in Kent, CT. When I arrived the gallery was crowded with smiling viewers, and the streets seemed full of people on their way there. In the center of the space Gabrielle Vallarino of Millbrook displayed her assembled natural stone jewelry. Vallarino, creator of Circa Designs, goes south to collect her semi-precious stones and exotic pearls. She finds the unusual, such as white egg-shaped Turquoise and Picture Jasper with miniature landscape-like inclusions. She embraces the overlooked by collecting sticks and then casting them in bronze. These casts as well as cast stones are combined in unique and fairly musical strands, adding another meaning to her name for the jeweled series- Brass Fusion.

On the back wall hang exquisite botanical watercolors by Jessica Tcherpine, also of Millbrook. Her wreaths of flowers and delicate nest are beautifully rendered and composed. She is well published and has served as founding member of the American Society of Botanical artists and is a director of the Horticultural Society of New York. Her work is renowned on both sides of the Atlantic. She is a master. Tcherpine does not have a website and to see her work you have this great opportunity to go to the gallery.

The show will run through December 31, 2010. Eckert Fine Art–Connecticut is located in the Kent Town Center at 27 North Main Street in Kent, CT. The gallery is open Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from Noon – 5:00 p.m.

ARTEAST OPEN STUDIOS THIS WEEKEND

The 4^th annual ArtEast open studio tour starts this WEEKEND. Artists from Dover Plains, Amenia, Pine Plains and Millerton will open their creative spaces and the following weekend, the 23 and 24^th, studios to the south, from Wingdale to Holmes, will follow suit.

What’s especially thrilling for me about this year’s tour is the new studios included. And I mean NEW studios, like, “delivered this Monday” new. Dianne Englekee, photographer and cartoonist in Millerton, expects her studio, which was built at Bayhorse in Milan, to be arriving this week! Her husband, the sculptor and painter Mark Liebergall, had his studio arrive in two parts a few weeks ago. It took several Amish men to put it together. Both studios will sit apart and reflect the individual character of the artists. As Liebergall says, “ her studio is like a French atelier, and mine is more like a Manhatten loft”. Camillo Rojas and Virginia Lavado, also from Millerton, have designed and been building their combined studio for years. This open studio tour will essentially be a studio warming for them as well. Another new studio on the tour is Peter Cascone’s place in Amenia, which is full of decades of work in a plethora of vintage styles. He is known for his stories and I am sure a visit there will be fascinating. In addition, My Dog Miles Art Projects and Installations and the 14^th Colony show in Millerton will bring me a quick group snapshot of what is happening in the current local scene. The one artist from previous years on the tour is Sue Hennelly in Dover Plains. She is well known for her warm hospitality and the quality of her watercolors. Maps for the tour are available at www.arteastdutchess.org

I am not opening my studio this year... it's too much a part of my kitchen! But i will be out and about checking on what these artists are up to. Hope to see you there!

Tilly

weekend flurries

My niece from Wellesley College was staying with me and celebrating her 21st birthday. this photo is of us at the Boathouse restaurant in Lakeville.
Still feeling hi from the weekend of culture (and food)- the NOW concert presented by 3Corners Contemporary Music Project with Sophie Shao and also the Kalmia String Quartet. It's rare you get to listen to contemporary compositions on classical instruments... fabulous! Also we went to the Millbrook Winery to see the works of three friends- Victoria Hayes, one of the artists is also in my monthly women artists@work group. And then Henry Klimowicz hosted the last show of the season at the Re-Institute. I wrote the following for the Millbrook Independent:

There are many hidden lofty places in our midst.

One is right in Millerton. The Re--Institute, a brainchild of artist Henry Klimowicz, is a, in his words, “response to the nearby Wassaic Project’s energy and exuberance”. Klimowicz has transformed the second floor of one of his barns on his 40-acre farm into reverent space for exhibiting art.

Klimowicz works in recycled materials and so the re-use of the barn, as well as his mode of working, inspired the name of Re- Institute. The first show, which opened last April, featured 66 artists, 100 works and had an attendance of 240 people. If you don’t show up for the opening event you will have to call Klimowicz for an appointment. Between events the location of his loft gallery is hard to detect. He puts a small sign by the road for the openings. Every five weeks through September he plans for the shows to change.

September 19^th opens the last show of the initial season. It promises to be an event not to be missed. The Fourth Estate Print collaborative is from Brooklyn and it is a place where master printers work with artists collaboratively. They use innovative materials such as plastic paper and metallic inks. The one week long show will feature a cross section of their output.

Klimowicz’ concept for the Re-Institute is to promote collaboration between people both in-sync and in opposition. The hope is to provide a place for dialogue between artists of all media. Though geographically limited to a short season in a rural location, the website has proved to have an international following. Mid-career artists are offered validity and an extensive global viewership. The Re-Institute provides Klimowicz, the exhibiting artists, and the viewers a connection to a larger world. The re-Institute is located at 1395 Boston Corner's Road. If you miss the opening and want to see the show, just call Klimowicz for an appointment at 518-567-5359. For more information visit www.TheReInstitute.com

Henry Klimowicz review

Amid the half dozen local artists included in this years Wassaic project roster, artist Henry Klimowicz of Millerton NY with his installation at the peak of the seven story Maxon Mill created an inspiring experience for viewers out of the simplest material. Klimowicz uses torn, cut, and reassembled cardboard fragments to create floating walls, textured surfaces and ornate screens. One material, articulate, site specific and temporary echoed the Mill as a tactile experience.

Visitors, young and old, who climbed the stairs, entered with jaws falling open, into an interior unfamiliar environment. The all-encompassing use of cardboard allowed for a humorous and fanciful experience. Many preferred to linger on the cardboard bench and enjoy the diffused light.

A giant hanging circular screen in the middle of the room moved the viewers as an architectural, rather than ornamental element. Suspended like the spirit of the viewers, the sculpture worked as a painterly piece with rhythmic and morphing details such as spirals and orb like constructions.

This was not a sensation of being in a cardboard box… more like being in a beehive. Klimowicz has used cardboard as his primary medium since 1986. Klimowicz on his website, http://henryklimowicz.com, says, “The structures remind me of the insides of bee hives. The process of building my work is reminiscent of the work of insects, bees, ants, and termites.” The Wassaic installation took him six weeks and sixteen hours a day to create and after the weekend it will be dismantled.