Museums Fall 2015

Fall Museums: Artists have the amazing ability to see the extraordinary in the most ordinary things. That’s the takeaway from this fall’s must-see exhibits.

At the Hudson River Museum, photographer Jordan Matter found mundane places like libraries, coffee shops and city streets to be the perfect backdrops to capture thrilling shots of dancers. A group of contemporary artists took elements of natural and man-made environments and transformed them in imaginative ways, as you’ll find at the Katonah Museum of Art.  And, for the ultimate in conservation, see how artist/environmentalist Nancy Judd “upcycles” everyday trash into elegant haute couture at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center.

Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, 258 Main St., Ridgefield, CT • 50th Anniversary: Circumstance: An exploration of how fine art, design and non-art objects come together to inform creative expression, as shown through the commissioned work of six artists. In a captivating maze of rooms, craft, historical design and everyday objects sit beside works of art, demonstrating how artists take inspiration from their surroundings—and prompting larger questions about history, culture and society. Participating artists Virginia Poundstone, Nancy Shaver, Ruby Sky Stiler, Penelope Umbrico, Elif Uras and B. Wurtz reveal never-before-seen aspects of their practice. Mon, Wed-Sat: 10am-5pm. Sun: 12-5pm. Through 10/25. Painting in Four Takes: Solo exhibitions by four contemporary painters who span generations, methods and intentions: Steve DiBenedetto focuses on the unpredictable flux of the Post-Modern world, utilizing leitmotifs including the helicopter, octopus, wheel and glass office tower. Hayal Pozanti debuts a new series of paintings and digital animations based on the unique 31-character “alphabet” of shapes she invented. Julia Rommel uses a laborious choreography of cutting, sanding, wiping, expunging and overlaying to give her oil paintings an expression not unlike a life cycle. Ruth Root combines hand-painted Plexiglas with colorful fabric patterns she designs digitally (Ruth Root, Unitled, 2014 shown here) . Mon, Wed-Sat: 10am-5pm. Sun: 12-5pm. 11/15-4/3/16. Opening reception: Sun, 11/15: 2-5 pm. www.aldrichart.org

Boscobel, 1601 Route 9D, Garrison • Special Exhibit: Every Kind of a Painter: Thomas Prichard Rossiter (1818-1871): The first retrospective of this lesser-known Hudson River School artist, featuring portraits, still lifes, landscapes, genre scenes and history paintings. Distinguished art historian Bruce Weber describes Rossiter as “an ambitious, earnest and engrossing artist, who spent his life stretching his abilities and seeking to move American art forward.” Pictured here: Detail of Self-Portrait (unfinished), c. 1852, oil on canvas. Wed-Mon: 9:30am-5pm. Through 11/29. www.boscobel.org

Bruce Museum, 1 Museum Drive, Greenwich, CT • Charles Harold Davis: Mystic Impressionist: A retrospective of paintings by American landscapist Davis (1856-1933). Praised for his ability to capture the shifting moods of his native Connecticut landscape, Davis exhibited at the famous 1913 Armory Show in New York and established the art colony in Mystic. The exhibition highlights the transformation Davis made from a delicate Barbizon style to an atmospheric Impressionism and the bold, expressive style of his final years. (Charles Harold Davis, Over the Uplands, Oil on canvas pictured here)Tues-Sun: 10am-5pm. 9/26-1/3/16. Bjørn Okholm Skaarup: Carnival of the Animals features the fanciful, comical bronze sculptures of the Danish artist, whose inspiration ranges from ancient fables to art history to modern animation. Okholm Skaarup’s sculptures present a whimsical story or allegory to decipher: a cheetah using a scooter to move faster, a giraffe balancing on stilts, a kangaroo bouncing on a pogo stick. “The sculptures are a celebration of life and its many intriguing shapes and creatures, all placed in peculiar and surreal encounters between nature and culture,” explains the sculptor. (Bjørn Okholm Skaarup, Rhino Harlequin, 2012, pictured here) Tues-Sun: 10am-5pm. 10/31-1/3/16. Secrets of Fossil Lake: Travel back in time to a lake that vanished 50 million years ago. This remarkable assemblage of fossils captures an ancient ecosystem from the time when Wyoming was covered in subtropical forests. Ferocious predatory fish, delicate feathered birds and tiny primitive horses are all preserved in astonishingly beautiful detail. Tues-Sun: 10am-5pm. 11/21-4/17/16. Madagascar: Ghosts of the Past is an intriguing look at the island nation, isolated for the last 88 million years, that is populated by hundreds of remarkable species found nowhere else on Earth. Visitors will encounter a variety of living and extinct species, including giant lemurs, pygmy hippos, a carnivorous theropod dinosaur suspected of cannibalism, a plant-eating crocodilian, and the giant, flightless elephant bird, whose egg held the volume of 150 chicken eggs!  Tues-Sun: 10am-5pm. Through 11/8. Theodore Nierenberg: Photographs from His World Travels: This series of portraits celebrates the indigenous people and cultures the photographer encountered during his extensive travels in Central and South America, Africa and the Far East. Much of the work was taken after Nierenberg retired as co-founder of Dansk International Designs, known for Scandinavian-style home furnishings. (Theodore Nierenberg, Ethiopia, young girl picture here) Tues-Sun: 10am-5pm. Through 11/29. www.brucemuseum.org

Hudson River Museum, 511 Warburton Ave., Yonkers • The Garden of Emoji Delights: New media artist Carla Gannis reconstructs Hieronymus Bosch’s famous triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights into a modern, animated collage for the digital era. Gannis replaces religious symbols with secular, contemporary digital ones to critique consumerism and modern society. Parental Advisory: This exhibition contains adult imagery and humor. Wed-Sun: 12-5pm. Through 9/26. Dancers Among Us: Photographs by Jordan Matter: The world is the studio for Matter, who photographs dancers in unexpected settings such as streets, libraries, playing fields, coffee shops and highways. This exhibition of more than 30 stunning images  exhibition also answers the question Matter is often asked: “Wow—how did you get that shot?” (*Jordan Matter, Dancers Among Us (Meghan G. Meehan at the Hudson River Museum), 2014 pictured here) Wed-Sun: 12-5pm. 10/17-1/17/16. www.hrm.org

Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, 1701 Main St., Peekskill •  Leviticus features Austrian artist Hermann Nitsch’s seminal book open to the description of the sacrificial services of the High Priest. The surrounding walls feature 12 terragraph prints and accompanying extracts from Leviticus in Hebrew and German; complementing the prints are paintings and priestly garments. The omnipresent red color in all the works stands for blood as the essence of life. His paintings are beautiful abstractions symbolizing what it means to be human. (Hermann Nitsch, Levitikus Motif 1, 2010 pictured here) Fri: 11am-5pm, Sat & Sun: 12-6pm. Through 12/6. Opening reception on Sat, 9/12: 5-7pm. www.hvcca.org

Katonah Museum of Art, 134 Jay St., Katonah • Inside the Outside: Five Self-Taught Artists from The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation: Over 50 years, William Louis-Dreyfus has collected numerous important works by self-taught artists, some of whom are represented in this show: Thornton Dial, Willie Young, Nellie Mae Rowe, Bill Traylor and James Castle. While using vastly different styles, techniques and materials, these artists share a similar background: little or no formal art education, birth or upbringing in a rural area, an art career that started late in life, and work that pulses with inner passion. Here, Nellie Mae Rowe’s Early Bird, 1981.  Tues-Sat: 10am-5pm & Sun: 12-5pm. Through 10/11. SupraEnvironmental: Contemporary artists create enlightening and unexpected encounters with natural and man-made objects, prompting visitors to consider our positions within our environment, and the actual and imaginative relationships we have with it. Tues-Sat: 10am-5pm & Sun: 12-5pm. 10/25-1/24/16. Allan McCollum: Perfect Vehicle: McCollum has spent more than four decades exploring how objects accrue meaning through their manufacture, modes of display and means of exchange. Displayed on the museum’s front lawn, Perfect Vehicle (pictured here) investigates the space between a handmade sculpture placed on a plinth and reproductions of Chinese ginger jars that have been copied, traded and presented as objet d’art for centuries. Tues-Sat: 10am-5pm & Sun: 12-5pm. Through 10/11. www.katonahmuseum.org

Neuberger Museum, Purchase College, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase •  Teresa Margolles: We Have a Common Thread: Mexican multimedia artist Margolles collaborated with native embroiderers from several Latin American countries to create patterns on fabrics that had been stained through the violent deaths of women. The work triggered conversations about social problems plaguing the embroiderers’ own communities, which were recorded and included in the exhibition. Tues-Sun: 12-5pm. Through 10/11. After 1965: It was a watershed year in American history, with the Watts Riots, the assassination of Malcolm X, the march from Selma to Montgomery and the passage of the Voting Rights Act. During this turbulent period, the rise of New Left social movements permanently altered the cultural landscape and once-marginalized subjects gained political power. This exhibit examines works from the period of cultural production from the mid-1960s through the early 1970s, and its influences 50 years later. (Bridget Riley, Untitled, 1966, Emulsion print on board pictured here) Tues-Sun: 12-5pm. 10/4-3/13/16.  Liza Lou: Color Field and Solid Gray: Liza Lou challenges traditional definitions of painting, sculpture and craft in her dazzling installations made entirely of glass beads. Color Field, (pictured here) the artist’s largest sculpture to date at approximately 1,800 square feet, carpets nearly the entire floor of Neuberger’s largest gallery in a shimmering field of color. Originally made in South Africa with a team of 30 Zulu women artisans, the work was re-created by Lou on site at the museum. The exhibition also includes Solid Gray and Color/White canvases, a series of woven beaded works in various hues. Tues-Sun: 12-5pm. 11/8-2/21/16. www.neuberger.org

Stamford Museum & Nature Center, 39 Scofieldtown Rd., Stamford, CT •  ReDress: Upcycled Style by Nancy Judd: An exhibition of 18 unique garments fashioned from recycled and repurposed materials by internationally-known artist and environmental educator, Nancy Judd. The stunning apparel appears to be high-end couture, but a closer look reveals these “trashion” pieces are made of materials such as aluminum cans, bicycle tire inner tubes and dry cleaner bags. Judd’s goal is to inspire people to look at waste more critically. Pictured here is Eco-Flamenco, 2011, made with parachute scraps and painted cereal boxes containing 5,000 commitments by people to help the environment. The dress took 650 hours to create. Mon-Sat: 9am-5pm & Sun: 11am-5pm. 9/18-11/1. www.stamfordmuseum.org.

Wave Hill, W. 249th St. and Independence Ave., Bronx • Benjamin Swett: New York City of Trees: A selection of photographs by Benjamin Swett, who has devoted many years to capturing the trees that make up New York City’s urban forest. For Swett, trees are as much historical artifacts as they are botanical specimens, and his portraits illustrate the important role they play in the fabric of the city and the neighborhoods in which they grow. “I try to show the trees as living objects around which associations have gathered,” Swett explains, “and to think about what the places would be like if they were gone.” (Benjamin Swett, Post Oak, Hunter Island, Bronx, 2012 pictured here) Tues-Sun: 10am-4:30pm. Through 3/27/16. www.wavehill.org

By Elena Serocki of  What To Do

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