art
When I’m 62
S
ometimes macabre, often whimsical, but always stimulating, The 62nd
Exhibition of Central New York Art-
ists at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute Museum of Art in Utica is any- thing but predictable. Mary Murray, curator of modern and contemporary art, says the latest exhibition is quite eclectic. And that is an understatement.
The museum’s biennial exhibit, which
invites regional artists from 26 counties across Central New York, is a big show with something to appeal to every taste and well worth the trip. “The juror, Susan L. Stoops, the curator of contemporary art at the Worcester Art Museum in Massa- chusetts, really did a good job of selecting works that were quite interesting, have a lot of visual wall presence, and are very thought-provoking,” Murray says. She wanted several pieces from each artist to illustrate the wider range of an artist’s work rather than limiting the display to a single out-of-context glimpse. Organized into two groups, based on
lines and shapes, Murray started with large installations as anchors to balance and sup- port the smaller works between. “When I organized the exhibition,” Murray adds, “I tried to make meaningful relationships between the pieces within it.” Lines dominate the first gallery, through
Daniel Buckingham’s installation involving tree branches entwined with neon light on one end of the gallery, and the mixed-media installation by Phil Young, of corn, plastic and hanging wires, on the other end. The artists represented there range horizontally from Aimee Denault, a Philadelphia-based undergraduate student raised on a New York
Utica’s Munson-Williams Proctor keeps it fresh with its annual exhibit of local artists’ work
organic farm, to the octogenarian Mary Gaylord Loy, of Clinton. But if asked to guess which work
belongs to which artist, one may incorrectly surmise that the graphite drawing of a min- iature world within an “eggshell” belonged to the elder and the urban-graffiti-esque panel belonged to the younger. This exhibi- tion defies such expectations and leaves the gasp of the unexpected in its wake. The expressive drawings, usually of ani-
mals, by Donalee Peden Wesley, are “fright- ening and disturbing and poignant, all at once,” Murray points out. Susan D’Amato’s large-scale, nearly photographic charcoal drawings of parts of the body as “metaphor to our human identity, vulnerability and mortality” are eerily provocative. In the second gallery, Lou Getty’s sweep-
ing “Reveries of Henrietta Buttons, RN” gives a haunting and whimsical account of the musings of a fictional turn-of-the-20th- century nurse on Chinese medicine and alternative healing. Tiny dioramas provide peep shows of insight. Syracuse artist Arjan Zazueta’s intricately embroidered paper towels are reminiscent of Aztec basketry but with a nod to con- temporary disposable culture, bringing an ephemeral blend of the two disparate civili- zations. The color-drenched, almost figura- tive works of Melissa Johnson, of Manlius, progress into the fluid and organic paintings of Madeline Silber of Oneonta. Providing a second anchor, Utica artist Dorene Quinn’s “Off Road” uses a natural material, bark, to impose a totally unnatural and startling set of tire tracks across the gallery and up one wall. Balanced against the mixed-media col- lage of Lisa Gregg Wightman of Rome,
BY SAMANTHI ARSECULERATNE MARTINEZ
Empire states: Among the locally created artwork on display at Utica’s Munson- Williams-Proctor Arts Institute are “Entwined,” (above) an oil linen by Madeline Silber, and “Territories,” a digital video by Yvonne Buchanan.
whose work is “lyrical and poetic medita- tions of material,” says Murray, are the assemblages by Dan Bacich of Syracuse, “which are equally thought-provoking.” DeWitt’s John J. Fitzsimmons’ bold
paintings of lone figures become another anchor. Katharine Kreisher, of Schenevus, uses techniques that “span the entire his- tory of photography” in her work. By using pinhole photographs and digital images, she is able to achieve two different perspec- tives on the same object or scene. Stephen Honicki, of Scotia, creates scenes that are likened to film stills, using photographs and text to tell the story of the long-distance relationship of a gay man. Syracuse artist Mary Giehl presents an
array of light-infused “garments” crafted from monofilament and grown crystals. The pieces are evocative and ghostly while at first glance being fanciful. Yvonne Buchan- an, also of Syracuse, uses digital video to “create experiential moments” with stirring non-events that evolve into the rhythmic. In the Edward Wales Root Sculpture
Court, the main hall, the exhibit continues with lavish ceramics for a fictional dinner table for heads of state by Stephanie Rozene of Oneonta, and a series of digital prints that look like a study of some future arche- ology by Lynn Schwarzer of Hamilton. Worried you won’t have a docent along
on your visit to help your understanding of the artwork? Bring along your cell phone and dial into sound bites recorded by many of the artists to explain and give meaning
WWW.SYRACUSENEWTIMES.COM
to their work in their own words. With 31 artists in all, you will be hard-pressed to choose just one favorite.
The 62nd Exhibition of Central New York
Artists will remain on view through May 2. MWPAI is located at 310 Genesee St., Utica. Museum hours are Tuesdays through Satur- days, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, call 797-0000.
o
NO RESERVATIONS
WIN FRONT ROW TICKETS!
to an evening with
Anthony Bourdain
Thursday, April 22nd, 8pm at
ticketmaster.com • 315-472-0700
To enter, email promotions@syracusenew times.com with your name and contact information by April 9th.
Syracuse New Times March 31 - April 7, 2010
15
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31