Dorsky Museum to open four new exhibitions for spring ’16
On Feb. 6, 2016, from 5 – 7 p.m., the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz will host a public reception for the opening of its four spring exhibitions:
Andrew Lyght: Full Circle (on view beginning Jan. 20)
The Floating World: Holograms by Rudie Berkhout (on view beginning Feb. 6)
Made for You: New Directions in Contemporary Design (on view beginning Feb. 6)
On the Street and in the Studio: Photographs Donated by Howard Greenberg (on view beginning Feb. 6)
These exhibitions fulfill a key component of the mission of The Dorsky Museum: to present the art and culture of the Hudson Valley, past and present.
Two of the exhibitions focus on the innovative practices of single artists. Pioneering international artists Andrew Lyght (b. Guyana, 1949) and Rudie Berkhout (b. Netherlands, 1946–2008) made their homes in the Hudson Valley after establishing their careers in New York City and abroad and now receive their first museum exhibitions in this region. Each explores a varieties of approaches to image-making, with Lyght’s work focusing on the tools and media of construction, and Berkhout’s focusing on those of holography.
The other two exhibitions are group shows that present a variety of responses to a thematic topic. In her exhibition Made for You, critically acclaimed design curator Jennifer Scanlan surveys the contemporary activities of regional designers and craftspeople. On the Street and in the Studio, a two-part exhibition, collects street photography and portraits by acclaimed 19th and 20th century photographers. The prints on display were selected from among over 1,100 photographs donated to The Dorsky by photography dealer and specialist Howard Greenberg, a longtime patron of The Dorsky and other regional arts organizations.
Taken together, these four exhibitions promise Dorsky visitors access to a unique array of modern and contemporary art. The Andrew Lyght, Rudie Berkhout and Howard Greenberg exhibitions are accompanied by richly illustrated catalogues presenting new scholarship and biographical information, distributed by SUNY Press and available for purchase in the museum and online.
A complete description of these four exhibits and related programming follows.
Note: All programs take place in The Dorsky Museum unless otherwise indicated.
Andrew Lyght: Full Circle
Curated by Tumelo Mosaka
Jan. 20 through April 10, 2016
Alice and Horace Chandler and North Galleries
Prismacolor pencil, archival pigment ink on cotton rag paper
22 x 27 in., courtesy the artist
Full Circle is a venture into the departures, encounters, discoveries and transgressions that inform Andrew Lyght’s artistic practice and life. While living and working in cultural contexts as diverse as Guyana, Canada and the United States, Lyght has pursued an extensive inquiry into the mechanics of art making. Curated by Tumelo Mosaka, Andrew Lyght: Full Circle is the artist’s first museum exhibition since he moved to Kingston, N.Y. in 2006. Best known for his flexible and volumetric forms, vibrant paintings and abstract linear drawings, Lyght creates a wide range of works that analyze the structural properties of painting and reanimate pictorial space as an open system. Over many years he has developed an art form that explores the built environment as a dynamic pictorial subject, introducing new ways of seeing the world around us. A fully-illustrated exhibition catalogue, edited by SUNY New Paltz Professor of History L.H. Roper, features essays by Barbara Rose, Carl E. Hazlewood, Renata Karlin and others, as well as an interview with the artist.
[Click here to view and download hi-res photos from this exhibition]
Exhibition-related programs include:
Saturday, April 2, 2 p.m.
Gallery Talk with artist Andrew Lyght and exhibition curator Tumelo Mosaka, co-sponsored by the SUNY New Paltz Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program.
Made for You: New Directions in Contemporary Design
Curated by Jennifer Scanlan
Feb. 6 – July 10, 2016
Morgan Anderson and Corridor Galleries
Ceramic and wood, variable dimensions
Courtesy the artist. Photo: Craig Hoeksema
In the 21st century, design has become personal. People accustomed to being bombarded by a seemingly endless array of mass-produced objects are increasingly attracted to the unique and custom-made. Drawing on the output of designers and makers in the Hudson Valley and environs, this exhibition considers the ways in which the contemporary design object is customized for the individual, from the one-of-a-kind objects made by craft techniques to the latest technological advances of 3D printing. Made for You will include furniture, textiles, jewelry, installations, videos and tableware by approximately 20 designers/makers, demonstrating a range of approaches to design. A MakerBot 3D printer will be on view and in use by designers during the exhibition, courtesy of the SUNY New Paltz Hudson Valley Advanced Manufacturing Center.
[Click here to view and download hi-res photos from this exhibition]
Exhibition-related programs include:
Saturday, April 9, 2 p.m.
Panel with artists participating in Made for You: New Directions in Contemporary Design, moderated by exhibition curator Jennifer Scanlan. Event takes place in Student Union Building room 62/63.
The Floating World: Holograms by Rudie Berkhout
Curated by Daniel Belasco
Feb. 6 – July 10, 2016
Sara Bedrick Gallery
Transmission hologram : silver-halide glass plate, two parts: each 12 x 16 in.
Courtesy Rudie Berkhout estate
Holography first became available to artists in the late 1960s. Within its first decade, Rudie Berkhout (1946–2008) emerged as one of the new medium’s leading innovators. The Floating World features the Dutch-born, New York-based artist’s captivating “Transmission” works of the 1970s and ‘80s. Rear-mounted lights illuminate glass plates to project holographic images into space; the viewer steps into and away from the plates to interact with the ever-changing geometrical forms and organic textures, which reference electronic music, Asian cultures and local landscape. The exhibition will be accompanied by the first catalogue dedicated to Berkhout, published in partnership with the Center for the Holographic Arts, New York.
[Click here to view and download hi-res photos from this exhibition]
Exhibition-related programs include:
Saturday, April 30, 2 p.m.
Panel: “Remembering Rudie”
The artists who best knew Rudie Berkhout share personal stories and provide insights into his creative process. With Hudson Talbott, Hart Perry and Sam Moree, and moderated by exhibition curator Daniel Belasco.
Saturday, June 4, 2 p.m.
Hologram-making workshop and demonstration with artist and historian Martina Mongrovius
In this workshop participants will make a hologram together and learn how light can be shaped into holographic images. We will discover the magic of holographic images and discuss how Rudie Berkhout made the holograms exhibited in The Floating World.
On the Street and in the Studio: Photographs Donated by Howard Greenberg
Curated by Daniel Belasco
Feb. 6 – July 10, 2016
Howard Greenberg Family Gallery
Albumen print on paper, 7 x 8 5/8 in.,
Gift of Howard Greenberg
Over the last four decades, dealer and specialist Howard Greenberg has had a significant impact on the study and collecting of photography, expanding the field to include once-underappreciated artists and movements around the globe. He has donated a portion of his legacy to The Dorsky Museum: a rich study collection of 1,140 photographs by 101 artists, from singular prints by European masters Eugène Atget and Julia Margaret Cameron to in-depth holdings of over 100 prints by New Yorkers Morris Huberland and Carl Van Vechten. On the Street and in the Studio is a two-part exhibition that evaluates more than 70 highlights and novelties from this set. Part I focuses on street photography – spontaneous photographs taken in urban public spaces. Part II focuses on portraiture and the personal relationship between photographer and subject. Many of these prints have never been exhibited, and taken together they affirm the history of photography as a continual work-in-progress. This exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue by the curator including an interview with Howard Greenberg.
[Click here to view and download hi-res photos from this exhibition]
Exhibition-related programs include:
Sunday, February 28, 2 p.m.
Gallery talk with Howard Greenberg, co-sponsored by The Center for Photography at Woodstock.
ABOUT THE DORSKY MUSEUM
Through its collections, exhibitions and public programs, the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz supports and enriches the academic programs of the College, presenting a broad range of world art for study and enjoyment and serving as a center for Hudson Valley arts and culture. The Dorsky is 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 Oct. 20, 2001, and since then it has presented more than 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.
Funding for The Dorsky’s exhibitions and programs is provided by the Friends of the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art and the State University of New York at New Paltz. Additional support has been provided by Andrew Lyght, the SUNY New Paltz Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program, the Estate of Rudie Berkhout, the Center for Holographic Arts, New York, the Malka Fund and the Howard Greenberg Endowment.
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.