The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz is pleased to announce that Catskill-area artist Aki Goto is the recipient of the 2024 Hudson Valley Artists Purchase Award.
The Dorsky will acquire Goto’s pen ink and colored pencil drawing on paper, “Roomie Shots” (2022), which is being exhibited in the “Hudson Valley Artists 2024: Bibliography” exhibition.
“‘Roomie Shots’ is a stunning example of how Aki infuses her drawings with psychological intrigue, humor, and unnerving beauty,” said Sophie Landres, curator and exhibitions manager at The Dorsky. “We are thrilled to have it join the Dorsky Museum’s permanent collection, where it will continue to rivet audiences for generations to come.”
Goto is one of 14 artists featured in “Bibliography,” this year’s installment in the annual Hudson Valley Artists exhibitions of new work from our region. “Bibliography,” on view through April 7, 2024, and curated by Landres, uses books to situate artworks within a broader body of knowledge and to provide entry points for thinking about their aesthetic, social or political implications.
About Aki Goto and “Roomie Shots”
Aki Goto is a multimedia artist using video, sound, textile, performance, drawing and painting in her daily practice. Born in Tokyo, Japan, Goto came to New York City in 2009 and began working as artist assistant for Susan Ciancolo, with a focus on textile art. She later relocated to the Catskill Mountain region.
Goto has shown work at the Take Ninagawa Gallery in Tokyo, CLEARING in Beverly Hills and NY, Nonaka Hill Gallery in LA, EUROPA in NY, Starr Suites in Brooklyn, NADA/ Foreland in Catskill, and Arts of Life in Chicago. She has toured musically in the Northeast and was awarded the Best Experimental Short at the Greenpoint Film Festival.Goto resides in the Hudson Valley and works in a subsidized studio space in Catskill, NY, as a recipient of theStudio Art Prize .
In “Roomie Shots,” Goto depicts red balls hovering or emerging from the mouths of her figures, underscored by the word “obieteru” (Japanese for “frightened”) that appears as a screaming subtitle at the bottom of the composition.
“The trust and decisions that are born from my subconscious create each moment of the world in which I live,” Goto said. “This idea empowers me… I somehow see the beauty of how we create the universe in it.”
About the Hudson Valley Artists Purchase Award
The acquisition of “Roomie Shots” was made possible through The Dorsky’s Hudson Valley Artists annual Purchase Award program, which facilitates the acquisition of exceptional works by Hudson Valley artists, enhancing the museum’s contemporary art holdings from the region each year. Generously supported by the Alice and Horace Chandler Art Acquisition Fund, this program is instrumental in nurturing local artistic talent.
Previous Hudson Valley Artist Purchase Award winners include Richard Edelman, Deb Lucke, Nestor Madalengoita, Holly Hughes, Samantha Bittman, Stephen Niccolls, Patrick Kelley, Adie Russell, Gilbert Plantinga, Thomas Sarrantonio, François Deschamps, Curt Belshe and Lise Prown, Charles Geiger, Barbara Leon, Elisa Pritzker, Norm Magnussun, Amelia Toelke, James Ransome, Adam Chau, Amy Talluto, and Mollie McKinley.
Hudson Valley Artists 2025 will be guest curated by Ransome and inaugurate a new, artist-curated model for this beloved exhibition series. The Dorsky’s call for submissions is anticipated in late September 2024. Artists who wish to receive notification of the artist’s call can subscribe to the Museum’s email list.
About the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art
Through its collections, exhibitions and public programs, the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz supports and enriches the academic programs at the College, presents a broad range of world art for study and enjoyment and serves as a center for Hudson Valley arts and culture. The Museum is widely recognized 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 in the SUNY system. Since its official dedication on Oct. 20, 2001, The Dorsky has presented more than 100 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.
Museum Hours
Wednesday–Sunday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Closed Mondays, Tuesdays, holidays and intersessions.
For more information about The Dorsky and its programs, visit http://www.newpaltz.edu/museum or call (845) 257-3844.
