PEEKSKILL, NY.- The Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art is pleased to announce its Fall programs with three new exhibitions opening the weekend of September 13th -14th, 2008.
Origins, presents major works by 30 artists from 15 countries using natural materials: clay, ash, fiber, wood and soil, including Magdalena Abakanowicz, Carl Andre, Louise Bourgeois, Anselm Kiefer, Zhang Huan, Richard Long, Kiki Smith, Mierle Laderman Ukeles and Franz West. Origins will occupy the 10,000 square-foot main gallery space at the HVCCA with several artists producing projects specifically for the exhibition.
Richard Dupont’s sculptural installation Between Stations will open on HVCCA’s upper mezzanine.
Grimanesa Amorós’ multimedia installation Rootless Algas will open in the video room.
There will be an artist reception on Sunday September 14th, 2008 from 4:00 – 6:00pm.
Páliná Jónsdóttir: Special performance by Icelandic actress at 4:30pm.
Also on view to enjoy will be the fourth annual Peekskill Project, a citywide arts exhibition featuring 55 international artists throughout the city, sponsored by HVCCA. Combined, this year’s Fall programs includes indoor and outdoor works by over 80 world-renowned contemporary artists. All events are free and open to the public.
The artists in Origins approach the use of primal materials such as clay, fiber, wood, aluminum, stone, and soil, as mediums that have arrived in the present day with a tremendous amount of tradition attached to them. Handcrafted qualities and personal sensibilities are emphasized as well as work that addresses the value and beauty of our diverse ecology and its fragility. There is a reverential simplicity to the use of some materials as with artists such as Andre, Bourgeois, Heizer, Long, Laib, and Schneider, where there is little or no embellishment of stone, wood etc. There is also a focus on the human figure as a locus of expressive possibilities: Bhabha, Landau, Mendieta, Silver, Smith and others. Whether metaphorically presented or disfigured, shrouded, or animated, the body is offered as a spiritual totem, a monument to corporeal identity.
PARTICIPATING: 30 ARTISTS FROM 15 COUNRIES:
Magdalena Abakanowicz, Carl Andre, Huma Bhabha, Ashley Bickerton, Bruce Bickford, Louise Bourgeois, Berlinde de Bruyckere, Nathalie Djurberg, Ann Hamilton, Michael Heizer, Zhang Huan, Anselm Kiefer, Brian Knep, Danielle Kraay, Wolfgang Laib, Sigalit Landau, Richard Long, Ana Mendieta, Cady Noland, Giuseppe Penone, Rona Pondick, Martin Puryear, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Gregor Schneider, Daniel Silver, Kiki Smith, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Rebecca Warren, Franz West and Daisy Youngblood.
Dupont’s new installation “Between Stations” at HVCCA consists of two new large scale figurative sculptures situated contextually within the space of the museum, and intended to engage the viewer in a “conversation” that is both spatial and philosophical. Originating from a laser scan of Dupont’s own body, these doppelgangers have been distorted using digital technology before being cast in resin and hand finished. Standing just over life size and occupying ambulatory space, these static “performers” reveal themselves differently from various vantage points, alternatively massive and dematerializing, engaging the movement of the viewer. Raising philosophical questions about the humanist tradition in the age of body mapping and surveillance, the works are also self reflexive meditations on sculptural forms from the ancient past to the distant
future.
Richard Dupont’s works have been acquired by numerous public and private collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the New York Public Library. He recently presented a major public art project at Lever House in New York City. The installation at Lever House and the artist’s work of the past five years are the subjects of a new monograph published by Charta and to be released this Fall. In addition, Dupont will be exhibiting a new installation at Carolina Nitsch Project Room in NYC, in November. Born, lives and works in New York City. Dupont studied at Princeton University (1987 – 1991).
“Rootless Algas” is an installation which explores Amorós’ experience on the remote island of Flatey in Breidafjordur Bay, off the coast of Iceland. Her intent was to capture the essence of the surrounding area and the awe and isolation which she felt. The rocks on the shores of Flatey were covered with thick accumulations of a type of algae that she had never seen before. They hold on to each other like refugees, to facilitate ocean travel. Her fascination with the algae increased as she identified with them.
Grimanesa Amorós is an interdisciplinary artist with interests in social history, scientific research and critical theory. She often makes use of sculpture, video, lighting and sound to create works that illuminate our notions of personal identity and community. Amorós utilizes her art as an agent for empowerment to involve viewers from all different backgrounds and communities. Born in Lima. Lives and works in New York City and Peru. Amorós studied at The Art Students League (1984–1988) and Private Ateliers in Lima, Peru (1981–1983).
On May 27th of 2008, the celebrated beastologist, Professor Rosengarten, identified a LIVING ancient sea beast on the banks of the Hudson River at Peekskill, New York. After thorough examination of the beast, experts believe it to be a species known as Sea Mare--which was thought to have become extinct somewhere towards the end of the Pagan Era. It is postulated that before washing ashore on the Hudson, Rosengarten's living Sea Mare traveled 2.744 miles across the Atlantic from its country of origin: Iceland. The phenomenal living Seamare will have its first public appearance at the HVCCA on Sunday September 14th, 2008 at 4:30pm. On that occasion, Professor Rosengarten will give a lecture on his remarkable new discovery.
Páliná Jónsdóttir began her performance career at the age of 9 at the National Theater in Reykjavik and since her work has pushed the boundaries of artistic disciplines creating inventive progressive theatre. A post-graduate of the Conservatoire National Superieure de Musique et de Danse de Lyon and a graduate from the The Drama Academy of Iceland, Palína also studied at the Icelandic Ballet Institute, The Reykjavik School of Singing and The University of Iceland, for Philosophy and Literature. Pálína is represented by Alan Willig at Don Buchwald and Associates in NYC and Jeremy Conway at Conway Van Gelder in London.
