Dutch Artists on Panel talk tonight in Peekskill.

Nine of the some sixteen artists featured in HVCCA's exhibit Double Dutch will be speaking tonight at the museum in Peekskill from 6 - 7:30 pm tonight.  HVCCA is located at 1701 Main St. in Peekskill.  The artists participating tonight are;  Martha Colburn, Fendry Ekel, Job Koelewijn, Maartje Korstanje, Alon Levin, Serge Onnen, Daan Padmos, Jennifer Tee and Rob Voerman.

In other Dutch artist news, the Muroff Kotler Gallery at the SUNY Ulster Community College is hosting an exhibit through Sept 25 called Verbindingen featuring work by Willem Bergert, Greta Cune, Marit Kik, Janus Eijnden, Helma Kujper, Pe Okx and Marja Vieugel..

Doings in Peekskill: Young Blooded opens, Sean Kelley gives talk.

The Hudson Valley regional exhibit of young artists called Young Blooded is opening on Friday at the Paramount Center for the Arts in Peekskill.  There are 15 artists in the show.  I have not seen a list of artists  and the only one I'm aware of being in the show is Will Walker.....if I'm not mistaken. (if ya'll are reading this and want to send me an artist list, I'd be happy to post it.) There is a reception happening on Friday July 24 from 5-7pm and the exhibit will remain on view through Aug. 16.  

The Paramount Center is located by 1008 Brown St. in Peekskill.

On Sunday July 26 HVCCA is hosting a talk by gallerist Sean Kelly from 4 to 6pm.  Mr. Kelly's talk will relate to his experience in representing artists whose work is ephemeral in nature and follows up a talk of a similar vein by Mary Sabbatino earlier in the year.  The talk Sunday will wrap up the museum's exhibit Origins which will be closing that same day.

Mary Sabbatino talks about representing the ephemeral, "unpossessible" artwork of artists at HVCCA, Sunday May 3, 2009 4-6pm

Classify this in the category of short notice :
Tomorrow (May 3, 2009) from 4-6pm, HVCCA is hosting a talk title "The Challenge of Working with Artists Using Environmental Materials" which will be presented by Mary Sabbatino, Vice-President of Galerie Lelong in New York. The talk presented will include specific reference to Ana Mendieta whose is represented by Galerie Lelong and whose work is included in HVCCA's current exhibit 'Origins'.
HVCCA is located at 1701 Main St in Peekskill, NY.

Video Artists in Dialogue Series at HVCCA kicks off

Terror Pidgeon Dance Revolt
Kickin and Screenin is the name of this year's series of screenings of video works at HVCCA taking place on Thursdays through April and May.
The first installment takes place Thursday, April 16 from 7-10pm and it will feature the work of Terror Pidgeon Dance Revolt! and Eric Barry Drasin with Cameron Wisch.

Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt!’s front man Neil Fridd walks the line between musician and performance artist. His performances are a sensory overload of sound, light, and funky costumes. Crowd participation is a must; Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt!’s performances are “an interactive dance party” giving the audience a unique opportunity to participate. The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt! released an EP on David Byrne’s Luaka Bop record label.

Visualist Eric Barry Drasin and Drummer Cameron Wisch will be premiering a new Audiovisual Collaboration that involves video projections, camera tracking technologies, black lights, body paint and an intense drum set.

Future installments will feature Joe Diebes (April 30), Paul Clay (May 7), and Oded Hirsch (May 28). Discussions with the artists will follow each night's screenings.
Admission is 7.50. Students and HVCCA members pay $5. (Students with a school id will receive a full year long HVCCA membership free.
Beer and wine will be served.

Workshop on writing artist statements at HVCCA in Peekskill, April 19 at 10am

HVCCA is hosting an artist workshop on Writing Your Artist Statement.
The workshop will take place next Sunday, April 19, 2009 from 10am - 1pm and it costs $45.
The session will be led by creative/grant writer Carrie Rothburd.
HVCCA is located at 1701 Main St in Peekskill, NY.
To register, call HVCCA at 914.788.0100 or visit peekskillartscouncil.org for more information.

Portfolio Review Day hosted by HVCCA on May 17, 2009

HVCCA in Peekskill will be hosting a Portfolio Day on Sunday May 17, 2009 from 12-5pm. If you're interested in attending, I suggest you rsvp quickly, slots are sure to fill quickly.This is the museum's second such portfolio review event. I attended the portfolio review held last year when around 100 artists with small portfolios and laptops descended on the museum for their opportunity for a one on one with a reviewer.

Artists are invited to bring their portfolios for review. These one on one constructive critiques with leading gallerists and collectors offer artists the chance to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Each review is 20 minutes and reservations are required.
Portfolios should include 10-20 examples of your best work. Artists are encouraged to bring in laptops and high quality images. HVCCA provides no equipment.

The panel includes:
-Caren Golden, Caren Golden Fine Art, NYC
-Stefan Stux, Stux Gallery, NYC
-Peter Surace, Owner, RARE Gallery, NYC
-Skarlet Smatana, Director, L&M Art, NYC
-Emilio Steinberger, Director, Haunch of Venison, NYC
-Joel and Zoe Dicterow, collectors, NYC
-Marc and Livia Straus, collectors, Founders, HVCCA
First reservations allocated to members.
Book early - Last years' program was wait-listed.
Fee: $20 members, $40 non-members
To reserve space, please call 914.788.0100 or
email us at karalenkeit@hvcca.org or info@hvcca.org.

The Dutch return to Peekskill and HVCCA & Alon Levin to give talk in New Paltz, Feb. 25

Karen Sargsyan on the left being introduced by Livia Straus.On Sunday, HVCCA opened an exhibit of work created by Karen Sargsyan during his Fall residency in Peekskill, with a reception and a question and answer session with the artist. The Armenian born Sargsyan is based in Amsterdam. Sargsyan's exhibit is part of a full year of programming, coincident with the quadricentennial of Hudson's voyage up the river, that recognizes the significant role of Dutch culture on the region.
In September, the museum will open a new exhibit called "Double Dutch: Exploring The Soul of Dutch Art Through the works of Seven Installation Artists". Sargsyan will be represented in Double Dutch, as will Alon Levin who has just embarked on a three month residency at SUNY New Paltz as part of a collaboration between the college's Department of Sculpture and the museum.
Levin will be giving a lecture on the SUNY New Paltz Campus on Wednesday February 25 at 7:30pm. The lecture will take place in Center 102. more details to follow.

Karen Sargsyan opening at HVCCA, Sunday, Feb 8 4-6 pm.

Abroad Understanding (detail of work in process), 2008 Metal, paper, wood, 98 x 248 x 224
inches, Courtesy of the Artist and Gallerie Juliette Jongma
HVCCA in Peekskill, NY will be hosting a reception for the opening of the site-specific sculptural installation created by Karen Sargsyan during his Fall residency at the museum.
There is an uncanny rhyming of material in Sargsyan's work and the work of HVCCA's previous Artist in Residence Chris Jones. Both Jones and Sargsyan use paper as the primary element of their sculptural work.
The reception is being held on Sunday, Feb 8 from 4-6pm.

Coming up: Jan 24+25 events

In Peekskill,HVCCA is hosting a series of poetry "performances" that respond directly to certain works on view currently as part of the Origins exhibit. Performances at 2pm and 6pm are planned on both Saturday and Sunday with a formal reception following the Saturday evening performance. This event is the second collaboration between the museum and the Hudson Valley Writers' Center.
Admission: Performances 1, 3 & 4
$15.00 HVCCA & Hudson Valley Writers Center members, $20.00 non-members
Admission: Performance 2 including reception
$25.00 HVCCA & Hudson Valley Writers Center members, $35.00 non-members
For Tickets: Call 914.788.0100 or email info[at]hvcca[dot]org.

3pm on Sunday afternoon will present a dilemma for some as there will be dueling talks happening at that time. I mentioned before, that Donald Alter will be giving a talk as part of his exhibit at the Garrison Art Center, in Garrison NY.
Here in Beacon NY, as part of the current Habitat For Artists exhibit, Van Brunt Gallery will be hosting a talk on solar energy given by the group Solar1- a green energy arts and education center in New York.

On for the weekend

A new exhibit opens today at the Howland Cultural Center. “Changing Expressions” - a celebration of Latino-American Artists is a group show featuring many local artists. The opening is happening today from 3-5pm.

Tonight at 7pm, Open Space will host a reading and book signing by left-wing political cartoonist and Beacon local David Rees. Note that this event is not suitable for children.

Tomorrow in Peekskill: HVCCA is hosting a free arts day. Admission to the museum is free all day from 12-6pm. Here's what's planned for the day:
2:00pm: Docent Tour of ORIGINS exhibition led by HVCCA President / Co-Founder Dr. Livia Straus.
3:00pm: Special music performance by the Westchester Symphonic Winds clarinet and saxophone quartets.
4:00pm: Gallery talk with HVCCA’S 2008 Artist-in-Residence Karen Sargsyan.
Also at 4pm, a ceremony will be held at which the museum will receive at $20,000 grant from Consulate General of the Netherlands New York (CGNY) for the Public Tile Program.
About the program:

The Public Tile Project is an arts and education initiative that unites the
students of the Hudson Valley with their Dutch heritage. The project
incorporates over 1500 individual tiles/artwork created by students from over 30
schools etc commemorating historic events, persons, geographical history, flora
and fauna of the region in the style of Dutch Delft tile painting. When fully
installed throughout Peekskill, the tiles will become a permanent marker along a
1 1/2 mile historic trail beginning at the Museum and ending at the river. The
final installment of the tiles will culminate with a ceremony during the Dutch
Quadricentennial Saturday, September 12th, 2009.

Peekskill Project discussion at HVCCA, 2pm Nov 2

HVCCA is hosting a round table discussion on Sunday to accompany the Peekskill Project which is on view through November 23.
The discussion is scheduled to begin at 4pm and speakers include Peekskill Project Curators and Artists; Michael Foley from Foley Gallery, Ombretta Agro’Andruff, Evonne M. Davis and Emma Wilcox from Gallery Aferro, Joyce Manalo from ArtForward, Michael Anthony Natiello from Collbrative Concepts and artist Deborah Fisher, Ryan Schroeder, and Stephanie Lempert.

Tids & Bits

This afternoon at 6pm, Marc and Livia Straus are giving a gallery talk at HVCCA in Peekskill called "The Art Market: Making Art and Collecting Art in a New Globalized Economy"
Admission to the talk is: $5 Adults, $4 Seniors/Educators, $2 Students/Children, Free to HVCCA Members. This is also the last chance to see Size Matters: XXL – recent large-scale paintings which is closing on July 27th. There's a Caroll Dunham piece in that show that I really dig.

Via a new Beacon community website, the Beacon Citizens Network, I learned that the Beacon Art Supply is for sale, and it is currently having a close out sale going on. If the business does not find a buyer it and it's conjoined neighbor, Burlock is scheduled to close; Burlock on Aug. 31 and BAS on Sept. 30. Good luck to Jeff and Nicole on their future endeavors.

A post on Yorktown photographer Rob Penner's blog says that he is planning on open a photo gallery in Beacon in September. Details forthcoming. Here's a link to Rob's main website.

Photographer Richard Falco to give talk at HVCCA, June 29 3pm

HVCCA will be hosting a lecture by Richard Falco entitled "Witness to our Times." Falco will be referencing his 30 years in photojournalism experience as he speaks on the social, cultural and historical value of documentary work. More info on Falco and his talk here.
Students (with Valid ID) - $5.00
Non-Members - $10.00 HVCCA Members - $7.00
Free for HVCCA members at Friend level and above
HVCCA is located at 1701 Main St. in Peekskill, NY.

@ HVCCA: Jonathan Meese performance & talk, May 10. Chris Jones exhibition opening May 18

German based artist Jonathan Meese will be giving a performance followed by a talk on Saturday from 12-2pm in Peekskill at HVCCA. $5 Adults; $4 Seniors/Educators; $2 Students/Children; FREE HVCCA Members.
Speaking of HVCCA, Chris Jones, the museum's current artist in residence will be opening an exhibit of the work created during these past three months he's been in Peekskill. I stopped in two weeks ago to see him and drop off more magazines to feed the furnace of his studio frenzy. Chris Jones' stockpile of material.

Since my first visit in the beginning of March, Chris' studio has become far more densely packed with materials and it is now dominated by the sizeable works in progress. Chris uses collaged elements from magazines to build a sort of 3D collage. His work has a dualistic nature - visually, and conceptually. Visually, seeing his work feels a little like viewing something through a set of stereoscopic glasses; your field of vision is slightly skewed. Conceptually, that duality plays out in the notion of actuality vs. representation and what is concrete, solid, vs. the ephemeral, non-structural made structural. The glossy pages Chris uses are not simply the surface of the piece they are integral to the structure and form holding his work together, yet the amorphously shifting imagery within the pages that are essentially the building blocks of his structures serve more to dissolve or erradicate the work's representational presence rather than reinforce it.
He manipulates the imagery in the magazines to embody an uncanny presence and form of textures depicted in his source images. Sculpture detail.
It's trippy stuff. How an appropriately crumpled piece of paper bearing a photographed image can take evoke the immediate and visceral experience of seeing a thing even while you are aware that you are viewing a scaled down, 2D, documentation of that thing.
I'm not going to give away what he's been doing, but he's been doing it feverishly. The work that he's creating now has everything to do with his stay in Peekskill, which is his first time in the States.
architecture of paperChris Jones' exhibit opens Sunday May 18 with a reception and Gallery talk from 4-6pm. The exhibit runs through August 17, 2008.

Aaron Johnson, John Newsom to speak at HVCCA, April 13.

Painting by Aaron Johnson, courtesy of HVCCA.

John Newsom and Aaron Johnson will be discussing their work which is included in the museum's Size Matters: XXL exhibit. The talks will be held on Sunday, April 13 from 4-6. For more information, visit HVCCA's website.

Arts as Impetus for Successful Redevelopment Pt. 2 at HVCCA March 30

On March 30, HVCCA will be hosting a second panel discussion examining Art as Impetus for Successful Redevelopment. The panel will be held from 4-6pm with a reception to follow.
The panel will be moderated by Janet Langsam, Executive Director of the Westchester Arts Council and former Deputy Commissioner of Cultural Affairs for the City of New York.
Panel Participants are Richard Sennett, Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics, and at New York University. Ralph DiBart, City re-development consultant and currently Executive Director of the New Rochelle BID. For more information on the talk, click here.

I attended HVCCA's first discussion on this subject held on Oct. 5, 2007. That talk was sparsely attended, but it did draw individuals from a range of Hudson Valley communities on both sides of the river.
Panelists in that discussion included Maider Bilbao, the museum's artist in residence at the time, who gave an enlightening account of the effect of the Bilbao Guggenhiem on the cultural life of Bilbao. From Maider's point of view, the economic effect of the tourist draw of the museum has primarily focused on the tourist sector, and there has been little benefit to the broader cultural or even economic activity in the city.
Also on the October panel were Joyce Pomeroy Schwartz, Art Consultant & Director of Works of Art for Public Spaces and Linda Lees, Founder of Creative Cities International. I really wanted to hear more from Ms. Lees as I felt she has a particularly strong comprehension of the mechanisms within these processes, unfortunately there wasn't enough time for her to really dig in. The most clarifying and striking thing she said was that it is the development of culture, which may include the arts, but not only the arts, that can bring about a successful redevelopment of a community. It's an easy, cliff notes assumption, particularly after Bilbao, to think that all a community need do is plop an art institution in its midst and let the healing begin. Any such endeavor, if it's intended to turn the fate of a city must take into account the existing population, and work to create programs and institutions that serve that population in addition to drawing visitors with destination attractions. Both Maider's reflection on Bilbao from a local artist's viewpoint and Linda Lees comments demonstrated the nuanced complexities of revitalizing communities.
Conversations on this subject are difficult. At once, it's a fascinating topic, and a potentially frustrating one. There are now and have been many groups of people in stagnant cities around the country placing their hopes on such a culture/art centric strategy for the betterment of their own situation and that of their respective cities. The topic is interesting from an analytical standpoint, but when coupled with the peoples' hope and desperation for improvement, such a discussion becomes stunted by the pressure of frustration and impatience. Frustration flared at one point during the Oct. panel as a couple of Peekskill residents vented about Peekskill's intransigent government and that city's long floundering attempts to engender an art driven economic renaissance.
This art thing simply is not a panacea, and in some locations perhaps, hope may float, but art don't. That's where Linda Lees comments on the development of cultural institutions that are both attractive to visitors and new residents, but support the traits of the community as it exists.
I just get this sense that some folks think, well, if it worked there, it's gotta work here. Well, no not necessarily, and perhaps that city whose success on which their basing their expectations may not be as successful as expected for those anticipated reasons.
I equate this to people who read Malcom Gladwell's book The Tipping Point and come away with the empowered sense that "Yes, I understand the dynamics of trends, and I know I have the power to make this such and such trend happen for me." I enjoyed the book greatly, and reading it makes you (me) feel like everything is so clear and obvious. I see references to the book made to tout the potential of one scheme or another, but I've yet to see the roster of companies which have boomed or trends that have skyrocketed precisely because the producers of those efforts applied the examples from the book to engineer series of conditions to make the right bubbling processes happen.

Field Trip to HVCCA: portfolio review, delivering mags

Thanks to everyone that dropped off magazines and catalogs yesterday. I the mags down to HVCCA today, and passed the mags on to an appreciative Chris Jones, the museum's artist in residence for the next several months. I spoke to Chris for a while on his process of creating his work and the transformation of his collage materials. I snapped these photos in his studio space in the museum's upper level gallery where he's been working for the last two weeks. An exhibit of work created during Chris' residency will open on May 18. So stay tuned. An earlier post, included an image of a collaged motorcycle sculpture made by Chris. There's a much more readable image on his home page, just click the link under his name above.

Several pieces of different scale are in the early stage of development. Playing on the textures in the magazine imagery, some pieces are already taking on uncanny, decidedly un-paper characteristics.
The collection of materials will continue, so keep saving your magazines over the next several weeks, and I'll make another run down to Peekskill on March 30 for the museum's next panel discussion -more on that later. If you have magazines you want to pass along, let me know or take them down to the museum yourself.
I was at HVCCA today to attend the portfolio review day. Nearly 100 artists had an opportunity to get 15 minutes of one on one time with one of six reviewers. I saw several familiar names on the posted lists of review time slots and reviewer assignments.
I'm interested to hear how beneficial this event was for other attendees. Please feel free to comment below. I've never participated in one of these types of reviews and it's sort a blur to me. I think as with any good critique group, it helps to have clear questions you'd like answered in mind, and I didn't have any off hand. The main thing I came away with is an intent to refine the way I speak about my work, particularly with a very short opportunity.

Bring out your old magazines & illustrated books for the sake of art

Chris Jones, Bike, 2007, Images and glue,
97cm X 200cm X 67cm

photo from HVCCA.com

London based artist Chris Jones begins a three month residency at HVCCA this week. I met Jones this evening after the panel discussion held at the museum. He creates sculptural representations of animals, and objects using imagery from magazines, catalogues, illustrated books and the like and he needs to amass a great deal of such items to from which to build his pieces.

If you have any old magazines, or illustrated books you are looking to get rid of, instead of tossing them in the trash, let's see if we can some magic with them. Just email me (info(at)maykr.com) and we'll see if we can get a bunch of material down to him.

HVCCA Events: Size Matters Image and Script, Jan 24, 27

In a collaboration between Peekskill's HVCCA, The Hudson Valley Writers Center and stage director Mara Mills, a series of short scripts inspired by paintings in the museum's current exhbit Size Matters XL will be performed in front of the respective paintings on two dates this month.
The 5-10 minute scripts will be performed on Thursday, Jan 24 at 8pm and Sunday, Jan 27 at 3pm.
Tickets are $15 and $12 for HVCCA members and members of the Hudson Valley Writers Center. For tickets, 914.788.0100 or email info@hvcca.org
Information on the program can be found here.

Other upcoming events at HVCCA:
Sunday, feb 10 4-6pm, Panel discussion: Artists entering the marketplace.
Sunday, March 2 2-6pm Art portfolio day

More on this weekend in Beacon and Peekskill

Here's some additional information on goings on this weekend:

Gary Jacketti is showing some works on paper at bau; opening will be held from 6-9pm. Gary is also taking part in the open house at Beacon Studios from 1-5pm on Saturday.

In addition to the Saturday evening opening at Go North, the gallery is presenting a short video work by David Grainger called "Microphone Check" at the Beacon Studios (opposite Rm #101 from) 1-5pm.

On Sunday, in Peekskill, HVCCA will be hosting a Slam poetry workshop and performance by Eric "Zork" Alan.