Tag: Art

Exhibit: Collections, Community & Conversation at the Danbury Historical Society

The Danbury Museum & Historical Society located on 43 Main Street in Danbury will be launching an 2014 Accessible Art Exhibit, in conjunction with the Cultural Alliance of Western Connecticut, on Saturday, January 18, 2014 and will run through the month of March.

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The exhibit cases in Huntington Hall will be filled with a wealth of interesting objects gleaned from the collections of individuals from The Greater Danbury area; including vintage photographs on display from guest curator, Catherine Vanaria, Professor of photographer at Western Connecticut State University. She is also President and Co-Owner of Connecticut Photographics, Inc., a professional photographic and digital lab located in Danbury.

On display will be an eclectic mix of objects including sewing machines, turn of the century postcards, milk glass, examples of antique book bindings, slide rules, colonial apothecary items, vintage toys, dolls, vintage pins and more.

The exhibit will be open to the public Wednesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. To 4:00 p.m. Collections will be on display through March. The museum will be hosting several roundtable discussions and will sponsor an educational program, ‘How to Start a Collection’ and ‘Preserving Treasured Photographs,’ presented by Catherine Vanaria on March 15, 2014. A schedule of events and additional information will be available on the museum website.

For more information visit www.danburymuseum.org or call 203-743-5200. For information on Litchfield Hills www.litchfieldhills.com

ABOUT THE DMHSA: The Danbury Museum & Historical Society was formed in 1947 to acquire, preserve, exhibit and interpret New England’s past; focusing particularly on the heritage of Danbury. Situated in downtown Danbury, the museum preserves the John and Mary Rider House (c.1785), the Dodd Hat Shop (c. 1790), the Marian Anderson Studio and the Charles Ives Birthplace. Huntington Hall, a modern exhibit building houses the museum offices and research library.

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Oysters, Pearls of Long Island Sound at the Bruce Museum

Found in estuaries around the world, oysters play a significant role in ecosystems and economies. These bivalve mollusks have sustained Native Americans and created waterside cultures. The Long Island Sound’s native oyster, the Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica), is a keystone species in the local environment, providing critical habitat and food for many other species, recycling nutrients, cleaning the water as it feeds, and driving an industry. Its value lies in these worthy attributes rather than in its potential for jewels. Like other true oysters, the Eastern oyster rarely produces a pearl. If it does make one, the pearl lacks the lustrous quality of those produced by pearl oysters, which are in a different family.

Eastern Oyster Eastern Oyster Crassostrea virginica Bruce Museum Collection Photo by Paul Mutino
Eastern Oyster
Eastern Oyster
Crassostrea virginica
Bruce Museum Collection Photo by Paul Mutino

The Bruce Museum celebrates the Eastern oyster in the exhibition Oysters, Pearls of Long Island Sound, running through March 23, 2014.

The exhibition will explore the science and history of the Eastern oyster in Long Island Sound, examining how its nutritional and commercial values have made the Eastern oyster a popular commodity for residents along the Sound for eons.

Hassam_Sloop Childe Hassam (American, 1859 – 1935) Oyster Sloop, Cos Cob, 1902 Oil on canvas National Gallery of Art, Washington, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.100
Hassam_Sloop
Childe Hassam (American, 1859 – 1935) Oyster Sloop, Cos Cob, 1902
Oil on canvas
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.100

Native Americans harvested oysters from mile-long natural beds and collected individual oysters that were up to a foot long. By the early 1800s, the natural beds had become depleted and oysters were cultivated on artificial beds.

The oyster industry was a powerful force in the local economy by the end of the 19th century. However, overfishing, pollution, natural disasters, and disease brought about a decline and the industry was seriously threatened through the early to mid-20th century.

In recent years, the oyster trade has experienced resurgence as a result of improved aquaculture techniques and oysters’ popularity among food connoisseurs who enjoy their distinctive flavor, which varies with each local environment.

Organized with the assistance of scientists and historians and developed in cooperation with the Town of Greenwich Shellfish Commission, Oysters, Pearls of Long Island Sound features hands-on, interactive displays, videos, specimens of bivalves from around the world, and historical objects that appeal to all ages. Objects from the Bruce Museum collection are supplemented by loans of shells, oystering tools, food-related items, and boat models from local collectors including oysterman Norm Bloom and institutions such as the Yale Peabody Museum, Rowayton Historical Society, National Gallery of Art, Grand Central Oyster Bar, and Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Milford Laboratory.

Complementing the exhibition will be a science lecture series in the fall and a history lecture series in the winter in addition to a variety of programs suitable for all ages.

About the Bruce Museum

Explore Art and Science at the Bruce Museum, located at One Museum Drive in Greenwich, Connecticut. The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday from 1 pm to 5 pm; closed Mondays and major holidays. Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for students up to 22 years, $6 for seniors and free for members and children under 5 years. Individual admission is free on Tuesday. Free on-site parking is available and the Museum is accessible to individuals with disabilities. For additional information, call the Bruce Museum at (203) 869-0376 or visit the website at www.brucemuseum.org. For area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

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An Emotional Portrayal of Women’s Lives in Afghanistan on View at the Westport Arts Center

Lynsey Addario uses her camera to speak for the people she photographs. She documents the issues and events on the periphery of war, capturing the emotions as a way to draw in the viewer. Ms. Addario, who is a Westport native and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, has traveled to war torn countries such as Afghanistan, Sudan, and Libya, to focus her lens on the effects of war. Her stunning photographs will be featured in “On The Wire: Veiled Rebellion” this winter at the Westport Arts Center. This exquisite exhibition will showcase 34 color photographs by Ms. Addario, depicting the plight of women in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Throughout her numerous visits, Ms. Addario has trained a close eye through her lens on women’s lives in all areas of Afghan society: culture, politics, education, employment, and domestic life. “Veiled Rebellion” was originally published in National Geographic in December 2010.

“’On the Wire: Veiled Rebellion’ follows the Westport Arts Center’s exhibitions ‘On Duty’ and ‘Chuck Close: About Face,’ which depict investigation and photographic documentation as art form,” says Helen Klisser During, Westport Arts Center Visual Arts Director and curator. “Each one of Lynsey’s images tells a story that conveys a full range of emotions. Lynsey Addario, in my opinion, is a photographer who not only documents but also touches the emotional core of the viewer through her work. She consistently photographs with rawness, honesty, and sensitivity.”

Lynsey Addario: Afghan Woment
Lynsey Addario: Afghan Woment

Ms. Addario has traveled throughout Afghanistan to capture the images featured in “On The Wire: Veiled Rebellion.” Her photographs explore the differences of the lives of women living within the same country. The series depicts births and operations in a hospital in Faizabad, women graduating from Kabul University, and female boxers training for the 2012 Summer Olympics. She has traveled with mobile health clinics, American soldiers, and Abiba Sarabi, the only female governor in Afghanistan. Several of her photographs detail the training of Afghan women by Italian Carabinieri to become police officers. In the photographs, the women shoot AMD-65 rifles at a firing range. Few Afghan women train to be police, about 700 out of 100,000, but their presence is welcome, as many men cannot perform certain tasks due to Islamic custom, such as frisking other women.

Ms. Addario, who is now based in London, England, grew up in Westport, CT and is a graduate of Staples High School. She photographs for The New York Times, National Geographic, and Time Magazine. She was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship, also known as the ‘Genius Grant,’ in 2009 and, along with a team from the New York Times, won the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting for her photographs in “Talibanistan,” in 2008. Her passion for photography has sent her all over the world and placed in her the middle of several wars. In 2011, Lynsey and fellow Westport native and international photographer Tyler Hicks were kidnapped in Libya with two other journalists, Stephen Farrell, and the late Anthony Shadid. The four co-wrote an article for The New York Times detailing their time as captives. While covering the Libyan revolution they were captured outside of Ajdabiya by soldiers loyal to Muammar Qaddafi and held captive for several days.

Visitors to the Westport Arts Center can hear Lynsey Addario speak about her work on January 25th, 2014 from 3 – 5pm where she will discuss topics presented in the exhibition. The opening reception for “On the Wire: Veiled Rebellion” will be held at the Westport Arts Center on January 24, 2014 from 6-8pm.

For more information visit www.westportartscenter.org. For area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

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Inside the Artists’ Studios: Small-Scale Views at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich CT

If you have ever wished you could observe artists engaged in the process of creation, Inside the Artists’ Studios presented by the Bruce Museum on One Museum Drive in Greenwich allows you to explore the individual investigations and analyses of four artists through their paintings, prints, photographs and three-dimensional miniature constructions. This exhibit runs through March 9 and features a Guide-by-Cell Audio Tour that is free of charge and may be accessed simply by using your cell phone.

The artists participating are well known and bring special skills to this exhibit.

Perspective Box Jimmy Sanders (American, b. 1963) Perspective Box, 2007 Wood, oil paint, 28 x 36 x 28 in. New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT Photo courtesy of Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York
Perspective Box
Jimmy Sanders (American, b. 1963) Perspective Box, 2007
Wood, oil paint, 28 x 36 x 28 in.
New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT Photo courtesy of Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York

Jimmy Sanders, for example has been influenced by the work of 17th-century Dutch painters, most notably in his Perspective Box, Studio in Florence, which he modeled after his own Florentine studio. Sanders traveled in Europe in the late ‘90s and, after seeing Hoogstraten’s A Peepshow with Views of the Interior of a Dutch House (c. 1655-60; The National Gallery, London), was inspired to create a contemporary version of this Old Master creation.

Lori Nix Studio Lori Nix (American, b. 1969) Lori Nix Studio, 2013 Chromogenic print, 42 x 69 in. Courtesy of the Artist © Lori Nix
Lori Nix Studio
Lori Nix (American, b. 1969) Lori Nix Studio, 2013 Chromogenic print, 42 x 69 in. Courtesy of the Artist
© Lori Nix

Describing herself as a “non-traditional photographer,” Lori Nix constructs her sets and then photographs them. After photographing the “scene” she has laboriously
constructed, Nix dismantles the diorama, leaving the photograph as the ultimate creative object. Her latest project is a self-reflective examination of her own crowded living/work space.

The Art of Painting Richard Haas (American, b. 1936) The Art of Painting a.k.a.The Allegory of Painting, 1968-69 Wood, cardboard, cloth, paper, acrylic, pencil, masonite, lights, 221/2 x221/2x221/2in. Courtesy of the Artist Art © Richard Haas/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
The Art of Painting
Richard Haas (American, b. 1936)
The Art of Painting a.k.a.The Allegory of Painting, 1968-69 Wood, cardboard, cloth, paper, acrylic, pencil, masonite, lights, 221/2 x221/2×221/2in.
Courtesy of the Artist
Art © Richard Haas/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Richard Haas began exploring the artist’s studio environment in the 1960s. He started with iconic masters, then moved into creating dioramic boxes of his contemporaries’ studios – including Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline – as well as views from his own 12-foot studio windows in New York’s then-gritty and industrial SoHo.

ack the Dripper Joe Fig (American, b. 1968) Jack the Dripper, 2006 Cibachrome print, Ed. of 10, 16 x 20 in. Courtesy of the Artist and the Tierney Gardarin Gallery, New York
ack the Dripper
Joe Fig (American, b. 1968)
Jack the Dripper, 2006
Cibachrome print, Ed. of 10, 16 x 20 in.
Courtesy of the Artist and the Tierney Gardarin Gallery, New York

Examinations of artists’ working lives also inform the pieces created by Joe Fig. Like Haas, Fig moved to the representation of contemporary artists’ spaces, interviewing artists before recreating their studios in miniature. Fig’s intimate views clearly appeal to the viewer’s desire to sneak a peek into the artistic process of artists such as Chuck Close, Ross Bleckner, Eric Fischl, April Gornik, Bill Jensen, Ryan McGinness, Philip Pearlstein, James Siena and Joan Snyder.

About the Bruce Museum: Explore Art and Science at the Bruce Museum, located at One Museum Drive in Greenwich, Connecticut. The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday from 1 pm to 5 pm; closed Mondays and major holidays. Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for students up to 22 years, $6 for seniors and free for members and children under 5 years. Individual admission is free on Tuesday. Free on-site parking is available and the Museum is accessible to individuals with disabilities. For additional information, call the Bruce Museum at (203) 869-0376 or visit the website at www.brucemuseum.org. For area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

JanetLeave a comment

Two New Exhibits at Five Points Gallery, Torrington

Five Points Gallery, a Downtown Torrington gallery, located on 33 Main Street is featuring contemporary work by professional artists, is presenting two new exhibitions that will run through February 2nd.

Shortell_Birds_of_a_Feather

In the West and North Galleries, the show, curated by Michael Shortell is “Cut and Paste: The Art of 21st Century Collage and Assemblage”. Featured artists include: Caryn Azoff, Nancy Doherty, Jon Eastman, Anne Gilman, Jane R. Lubin, M.D., Jane Rainwater, Rashmi Talpade, Paul Theriault and Deborah Wadswort. The art of collage has become more sophisticated since the early 20th century when artists like Braque and Picasso first used scraps of newspaper in their drawings. For this show, Michael Shortell has chosen a variety of works to illustrate the field of contemporary collage and assemblage and its evolution since the early 20th century. This exhibit shows how far contemporary artists have come in technique and content from the simple newspaper cutouts of early Cubism.

Danielle Mailer is the featured artist in the East Gallery with her show called Body Language 2013.. With influences ranging from Matisse to Klimt, to Miriam Shapiro, to Niki De Saint Phalle, Mailer creates dynamic works that offer her interpretation of the patterned silhouette. This installation features numerous 11-foot figures in acrylic paint on aluminum. An artist talk will take place at the Gallery on Friday, January 24th at 6 p.m.

Five Points Gallery is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday 1-5 and Sunday 1-3 and by appointment.

On February 1 at 2 p.m., three of the artists – Rashmi Talpade, Deborah Wadswort and Jane R. Lubin, M.D. will be at Five Points Gallery for a collage workshop. The workshop is free and open to the public. Space is limited and available on a first come, first served basis. To register www.fivepointsgallery.org.

For information on Litchifeld Hills where to stay, shop and dine visit www.litchifeldhills.com

JanetLeave a comment

Franklin Street Works Art Show is Amazing in Complexity

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Franklin Street Works, www.franklinstreetworks.org presents Neuromast: Certain Uncertainty and Contemporary Art. The group exhibition explores “emergence,” the theory that says unforeseeable results happen when a system reaches a certain level of complexity. The show’s title is inspired by a very specific emergent phenomenon, “neuromast,” which is the sensory organ that allows fish to effectively behave in unison against the threat of predators. Neuromast features sculpture, videos, text-based works, photographs and more by contemporary artists, writers and theorists interested in theories of emergence.

Exhibiting artists are: Kari Altmann, Christian Bök and Micah Lexier, Ingrid Burrington, Kaye Cain-Nielsen, Mircea Cantor, David Horvitz, Brian House and Jason Rabie, Juliana Huxtable, Thilde Jensen, Carolyn Lazard, M. M. Mantua, Preemptive Media, Robert Spahr, Elizabeth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle’s Sexecology collaboration, and The Waterwhisper Ilse.

The exhibition is curated by Taliesin Gilkes-Bower and Terri C Smith and is on view from December 12, 2013 through February 23, 2014. It will open with a free, public reception on Thursday December 12 from 5:00 – 8:00 pm.

With Neuromast: Certain Uncertainty and Contemporary Art, several shared themes arose among the thirty-one works, including: how culture and gender contribute to constructing identity; the dynamic between an individual’s health and the medical industry, commerce, or the natural environment; and the collection and distribution of digital information as it relates to business, personal security, and persona.

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A primary inspiration of the show was a series of photographs by Thilde Jensen called The Canaries, which served as an inspiration for the exhibition. Her photographs document the lives of individuals living with heightened levels of sensitivity to the toxic chemicals and powerful electromagnetic radiation found in modern, built environments. Preemptive Media’s Air project also explores emergence and the environment. Their portable air quality measurement kits demand reflection on the proliferation of smart phones and pocket computers that do little beyond promise increased entertainment and productivity. Mircea Cantor’s video installation Deeparture juxtaposes predator and prey by placing a wolf and a deer in a typical white cube gallery space. The artist calls into question traditional narratives of danger and the inevitability of death while he simultaneously hijacks the gallery by excluding art objects and audience. With Elizabeth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle’s Sexecology project, the artists approach nature very differently, creating performative weddings that link the concept of a couple’s love to our love of the planet via inclusive, largely unscripted community events.

Neuromast also approaches personal identity as a microcosm of larger complex systems. Juliana Huxtable’s portrait series Seven Archetypes explores her process of gender transitioning through cultural expectations of performance. M. M. Mantua’s sculptures ask viewers direct questions that hint at the unequal distribution of privacy between viewer and artist while creating cognitive engagement through language. Brain House and Jason Rabie’s Facebook Portraits present identity through algorithm and data, attempting to humanize the ways in which social networks identify and classify their users. Kari Altman’s site- specific iteration of her Smart Mobility/Invisible Protection series calls into question abstract ideals of security as they relate to identity in finance and branding.

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Moving out in scale to broader social phenomena, lngrid Burrington’s Center for Missed Connections identifies configurations of socially and sexually disconnected people in New York City through the missed connections section of Craigslist. David Horvitz also tried to change collectively authored online information through his zine documenting the artist’s attempted removal of himself from the group-edited encyclopedia site Wikipedia. Another text-based work that involves collaboration and an unpredictable outcome is Two Equal Texts by Christian Bök and Micah Lexier. The large vinyl wall work is an elaborate anagram that consists of two texts placed on either side of a freestanding wall. One side features Lexier’s descriptive text, which outlines the terms of the collaboration; the other side hosts Christian Bök’s elegantly resolved anagram of Lexier’s original text. Kaye Cain-Nielsen’s installation Miranda further explores the social consequences of shared responsibility in relationship to her own experience as a potential paid egg donor to an infertile couple.

Using contemporary art as its starting point, the artists in Neuromast investigate complex systems within social, environmental, and personal fields. The exhibition shows ways in which collective small-scale actions can prevail against seemingly insurmountable odds. Writer and activist Adrienne Marie Brown adds, “Rather than laying out big strategic plans for our work, many of us have been coming together in community, in authentic relationships, and seeing what emerges from our conversations, visions and needs. …We can define emergent strategy as intentional, strong because it is decentralized, adaptive, interdependent, and creating more possibilities.” The artists in Neuromast: Certain Uncertainty and Contemporary Art join in an interdisciplinary conversation on emergence via the adaptive and generate approach Brown sites, giving us insights into the often invisible, yet shared, complex systems that pervade our everyday lives.

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Franklin Street Works is located at 41 Franklin Street in downtown Stamford, Connecticut, near the UCONN campus and less than one hour from New York City via Metro North. Franklin Street Works is approximately one mile (a 15 minute walk) from the Stamford train station. On street parking is available on Franklin Street (metered until 6 pm except on Sunday), and paid parking is available nearby in a lot on Franklin Street and in the Summer Street Garage (100 Summer Street), behind Target. The art space and café are open to the public on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday: 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. with extended hours on Thursdays, 12:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Franklin Street Works does not charge for admission during regular gallery hours.

Franklin Street Works is a not-for-profit contemporary art space, café, and social gathering place in Stamford, Connecticut. It produces original on-site and off-site exhibitions, artist projects, and related programming. Located in renovated row houses on Franklin Street, the two-story space includes three galleries and a café. Franklin Street Works embraces innovative art and exhibition practices, a DIY attitude, and a workshop approach to its programming, audiences, and organizational structure. The activities and attitudes of the café reflect and expand on the organization’s mission as a contemporary art venue.

For area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

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