Worlds of Wonder: Hudson Valley Artists 2014 opens with public reception at The Dorsky on June 21

Frank Zitz, Rheinbeck, New York 6.26.12The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art will hold an opening reception for a new exhibition, Worlds of Wonder: Hudson Valley Artists 2014, on Saturday, June 21, from 5–7 p.m. The exhibition, the most recent in The Dorsky’s annual Hudson Valley Artists exhibition series, will be on display in the museum’s Alice and Horace Chandler and North Galleries through November 9, 2014.

Worlds of Wonder: Hudson Valley Artists 2014 is curated by Ian Berry, Dayton director of the Tang Museum at Skidmore College. Berry selected 16 artists whose work creates connections across time, media, and subject. Worlds of Wonder focuses on the laboratory-like environment of the artist studio, exemplifying the exploration and curiosity that is at the heart of many artistic practices.

The participating artists, chosen from over 320 applicants, are: Fern T. Apfel, Gabe Brown, Loren Eiferman, Adriana Farmiga, Holly Hughes, Kay Kenny, Mison Kim, Mike McGregor, Reuben Moore, Douglas Navarra, Stephen Niccolls, Caitlin Parker, Sean Sullivan, Judy Thomas, Linda Stillman, and Angela Voulgarelis.

In his call for submissions, Berry asked, “To what extent do science and nature, architecture, design, and history weave in and out of contemporary art making? How do artists bring together disparate elements into a singular work, or a cluster of related images or objects?” This exhibition will create its own space for discovery in unexpected places while highlighting new art from the region, paying homage to the cabinets of wonder that were precursors to museum collections.

Both visually sensuous and intellectually appealing, Worlds of Wonder includes photography by Kay Kenny and Mike McGregor, intricate architectural drawings by Mison Kim, collage by Fern T. Apfel, and abstract paintings and constructions by Gabe Brown, Loren Eiferman, Reuben Moore, Douglas Navarra, and Stephen Niccolls. Linda Stillman and Caitlin Parker’s artworks take their inspiration directly from the color and patterns found in nature. Site-specific installations by Adriana Farmiga, Holly Hughes, Sean Sullivan, Judy Thomas, and Angela Voulgarelis bring together a wide range of media, found objects, and construction materials in beautiful and surprising ways.

This is the sixth year that the Hudson Valley Artists Annual Purchase Award of $3,000 will be used to acquire one or more artworks from the exhibition for the museum’s permanent collection. This Purchase Award is made possible through the Alice and Horace Chandler Art Acquisition Fund. Artists whose work has been purchased in the past include: Curt Belshe and Lise Prown, Francois Deschamps, Charles Geiger, Patrick Kelley, Barbara Leon, Gilbert Plantinga, Elisa Pritzker, Adie Russell, and Thomas Sarrantonio.

ABOUT THE HUDSON VALLEY ARTIST SERIES
For over 20 years, the annual Hudson Valley Artists exhibition has been one of The Dorsky Museum’s signature exhibitions. It is curated from an open call for emerging and mid-career artists with a permanent mailing address and active art practice in Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester Counties who have not had a major one-person museum exhibition and who do not have an exclusive contract with a commercial gallery. Students are not eligible. Previous curators include: Connie Butler and Gary Sangster, Thomas Collins, Gretchen Keyworth, Denise Markonish, Brian Wallace, Linda Weintraub, and Daniel Belasco.

ABOUT THE DORSKY MUSEUM
The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, located at SUNY New Paltz, is fast gaining wide recognition as the premier public showplace for exhibition, education, and cultural scholarship about the Hudson Valley region’s art and artists from yesterday and today. With more than 9,000 square feet of exhibition space distributed over six galleries, the Dorsky Museum is one of the largest museums within the SUNY system. The Dorsky was officially dedicated on October 20, 2001. Since then it has presented over one hundred exhibitions, including commissions, collection-based projects, and in-depth studies of contemporary artists including Robert Morris, Alice Neel, Judy Pfaff, Carolee Schneemann, and Ushio Shinohara, among others.

Museum Hours:
Wednesday-Sunday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Closed Mondays, Tuesdays, Holidays, and Intersessions.

For more information about The Dorsky Museum and its programs, visit http://www.newpaltz.edu/museum, or call (845) 257-3844.