Activism and Preservation in the work of Artist Rimer Cardillo

The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art (SDMA) at the State University of New York at New Paltz presents the first comprehensive survey of Rimer Cardillo’s artistic career. Rimer Cardillo: Impressions (and other images of memory) will open with a reception on Saturday, October 16th from 2pm-4pm at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art. The exhibition will continue through December 12, 2004.

About the work: Focusing on Cardillo’s contributions to printmaking and the graphic arts, this retrospective explores Cardillo’s commitment to preservation of indigenous cultures, protection of endangered species, and conservation of vulnerable environments. Working amidst the dictatorial oppression in Uruguay of the 1970’s, the artist strove to maintain a tradition of free expression in opposition to totalitarian censorship. Cardillo’s later art explores the links between the historical norms that decimate indigenous peoples and the cultural habits that threaten plant and animal life.

The exhibition presents several print series that measure out the career and contributions of this major graphic artist. The exhibition also explores the ways in which Cardillo’s printing expertise expands to include objects, installations and environments. Exploring a career that now extends over three decades, Rimer Cardillo: Impressions (and other images of memory) organizes the artist’s work into four periods: Early Explorations: Uruguay and Germany during the late 1960s and early 1970s; A Voice of Protest: Uruguay in the 1970s; Strategies of Metaphor: The United States in the 1980s and 1990s; and Beyond Printmaking: Installations and Castings in the 1990s and Today.

Throughout his career, Cardillo’s work has blended the realities of his Latin American roots and his adopted homes in Europe and the United States. Cardillo’s move to New Paltz, New York in 1994 inaugurated a long-term relationship with the unique environment of the Hudson River Valley and the ecological system of the Shawangunk Mountain Range. In recent works, Cardillo’s commitment to sustaining the natural habitats of the Hudson Valley region parallels an interest in preserving the virgin forests of the Amazonian basin.

About the Artist: Rimer Cardillo is professor of printmaking at the State University of New York at New Paltz. He received his MFA degree from Uruguay’s National School of Fine Arts in Montevideo, and spent two years studying in East Germany at the Weissenssee School of Art and Architecture in Berlin and at the School of Printmaking and Art of the Book in Leipzig. In 1997 he was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. Cardillo has had numerous national and international exhibitions, and was selected to represent Uruguay at the 2001 Venice Biennial. At London’s Tate Modern, Cardillo recently gave a presentation about his work entitled “From the Purple Land to the Hudson River Valley.” His work is represented in numerous major public collections around the world.

Museum Hours and other information

Hours: Wednesday – Saturday, 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Sunday 1-5:00 p.m. Closed on Monday and Tuesdays, university intersessions and national holidays. Museum Information: (845) 257-3844 or on the Web at www.newpaltz.edu/museum. The museum accommodates the disabled. Admission is free.

The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art is dedicated to collecting, researching, interpreting, and exhibiting works of art from diverse cultures. The permanent collection spans a period of almost 4,000 years. Areas of specialization include 20th century paintings and works on paper, Asian and Pre-Columbian art and artifacts, metals and photographs. SDMA has a special commitment to collecting and exhibiting important works of art created by artists who have lived and worked in the Hudson Valley and Catskill regions. The museum is a major resource in the Hudson Valley serving a broad-based constituency from both on and beyond the New Paltz campus.

Additional images from the exhibition may be seen at http://www.newpaltz.edu/news/images/rimer1.html http://www.newpaltz.edu/news/images/rimer2.html http://www.newpaltz.edu/news/images/rimer3.html

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The State University of New York at New Paltz is a highly selective college of 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students located in the Mid-Hudson Valley between New York City and Albany. New Paltz is ranked 10th among the best public universities and 50th among public and private universities in the North that offer bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, according to the U.S. News & World Report’s rankings for America’s Best Colleges 2005.

Degrees are offered in the liberal arts and sciences, which serve as a core for professional programs in the fine and performing arts, education, healthcare, business and engineering.