“Carry On” exhibition at Dorsky Gallery showcases work of SUNY New Paltz alumni
“Carry On,” an exhibition organized by the SUNY New Paltz Art Department and curated by New Paltz professors Andrea Frank and Jill Parisi-Phillips, will open at DORSKY GALLERY ǀ Curatorial Programs (DGCP) with a reception on Friday, Aug. 5, 2016, from 3 – 5 p.m.
The exhibition will remain on view through Sept.2. The gallery is located at 11-03 45th Avenue, Long Island City, N.Y. Summer gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
The exhibition showcases the work of six artists, all recent graduates from SUNY New Paltz Photography and Printmaking Programs, who use different strategies and media to address periods of transition when our emotional or physical baggage––or “carry on”––is experienced more acutely.
For Doug Eberhardt ’12g (Printmaking), to carry on is to continue to do what you have to when faced with difficulty, challenges, or the unknown. His meticulous illustrations of landscapes and different species of fish are about change, mystery, and evolution, and about how we must adapt to survive, and to grow, sometimes in mysterious and unexpected ways.
Terry Phan’s ’15 (Photography) series of black and white photographs explore issues of ethnic identity in America. Specifically, the tensions, alienation, and affection present in a family where first generation immigrant parents live with a past their second generation son can never know.
Elizabeth Melnyczuk’s ’15 (Printmaking) monoprints are part of her continued exploration of nostalgia, home, and identity. She uses a range of symbols as she negotiates the transition toward her own home and life. The boat and sail hint at the place in between, the powerline speaks to travelling and the desire to communicate, while the knot functions as anchor and stabilizer.
Lilia Pérez’s ’15 (Photography) installation of photographs explores the formative quality of friendships among women by juxtaposing fleeting moments infused with the colors, shapes, and constellations of moments of domestic life.
The process of growing old and dealing with an ailing body is explored in the gentle documentary photographs of Selby Smith ’15 (Photography). They also show us the tools, frameworks, and systems we have built to support this stage of life, which we seem to tend to avoid, as it reminds us of our own mortality.
Vincent Spano’s ’15 (BFA Printmaking) video animation and installation invites us to follow a range of characters as they move through a strange imagined reality. As we look for symbolic meaning, this work explores what the man might stand for physicality and sexuality; the donkey for naiveté, or residual aspects of youth; and the moths for passion, desire, and the looming shadow of mortality.
About the curators
Andrea Frank, assistant professor of art at SUNY New Paltz, creates work that addresses complexity and change in relation to questions of collective responsibility and sustainability through a range of media. She has exhibited her work internationally including solo shows at Galleria Michela Rizzo in Venice, Italy, Kunsthalle Göppingen in Germany, and Edward Thorp Gallery in New York City. She is the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships including a DAAD, a SUNY New Paltz Provost Challenge Grant, and a SUNY Network of Excellence Art and Humanities grant (lead PI).
Jill Parisi-Phillips, associate professor of art at SUNY New Paltz, creates works on paper and glass celebrating the plant and animal kingdom’s wide palette and intricate patterns. Her work is in various private and public collections. She has created public art commissions for New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Arts for Transit program and for DC Government Services and is a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Printmaking/Drawing/Artists’ Books recipient. Recent exhibitions venues include the Krakow Printmaking Triennial 2015; MoCA Jacksonville and Medjeback in Falun, Sweden, 2016.
DORSKY GALLERY ǀ Curatorial Programs (DGCP) is a not-for profit organization that presents independently-curated exhibitions of contemporary artwork. Working with curators, writers and art historians, DGCP aims to illuminate and deepen the public’s understanding and appreciation of issues and trends in contemporary art. For further information, please contact David Dorsky at (718) 937- 6317 or via email at david@dorsky.org.