REFLECTIONS RENEWED: Hudson River Images Revisited
Frank Anderson (1844-1891), Popolopen Creek, 1863
Curated by Alexander Boyle
In the Exhibition Gallery at Boscobel October 7 – December 31, 2012
Many of the iconic landscape scenes painted by Hudson River School artists, now hanging in major museums all over the world, are the breathtaking views that surround us here in the Hudson River Valley. Thanks to preservationists and conservationists of years past, several of these vistas remain remarkably similar to their 19th-century appearance and are instantly recognizable. Many, however, are not. Visit Boscobel’s Exhibition Gallery October 7 through December 31st for this exclusive side-by-side exhibit of “now & then” photographic reproductions, and decide for yourself the differences, if any.
Alexander Boyle, Popolopen Creek Falls, 2009
Boscobel’s guest curator for REFLECTIONS RENEWED: Hudson River Images Revisited is Alexander Boyle, son of Robert H. Boyle, author of The Hudson River, a Natural and Unnatural History. Alexander Boyle grew up in Croton-on-the-Hudson and Cold Spring. He co-authored and published the groundbreaking book, Acid Rain in 1983 and graduated with a B.A. in history at Trinity College in Hartford, CT.
Alex later worked for the Metropolitan Museum of Art as assistant director for the film, American Paradise whose broadcast on PBS coincided with the exhibition American Paradise, the World of the Hudson River School. Alex is also a former VP of Godel & Co. Fine Art where he wrote numerous exhibition catalogs on 19th and early-20th century American paintings. Alex has also published various articles on American marine painting, painted images of American lighthouses and the emergence of the Hudson River School for various esteemed art publications. His article on the Hudson River School was extensively used in the 2002 PBS film, America’s First River, Bill Moyers on the Hudson where Alex was featured in part one: Stories from the Hudson. Alex also recently published in QUEST Magazine an extensive guide about where exactly the Hudson River School artists painted.
“This exhibition was born by the preservationist movement of the mid-20th century. And while we can’t turn back the clock to when the Hudson River was first captured on canvas, the clean-up laws enacted circa 1970 worked, and in many places certain vistas that were painted by the Hudson River School might be regarded as better looking today than long ago. The process of identifying these iconographic locations has just begun, but if this show is a good sample, they are a joy to behold and even a greater marvel to know somehow they still exist. They did not survive by accident so we give thanks to those came before us and preserved that land we Americans hold sacred,” explains Alex.
REFLECTIONS RENEWED: Hudson River Images Revisited opens at Boscobel on Sunday, October 7 and will remain on display in the exhibition gallery through December, 2012. Gallery Talks hosted by Mr. Boyle are scheduled for October 13, November 10 and December 29, 10am-11am. The exhibition is free with a paid House or Grounds admission.
- Hot Tamale by John Clement
CURRENT
Annual Summer Sculpture Exhibition
On the Grounds of Boscobel House & Gardens
June 1 – October 8, 2012
Celebrating its 7th year, CURRENT was established to bring large-scale, outdoor work to enrich the community and to raise monies for the Garrison Art Center Gillette Scholarship Fund making possible financial assistance to children, teens and adults for summer arts programs and classes throughout the year.
Barbora by Vladas Vildziunas
CURRENT 2012 is pleased to present the USA debut of Barbora, a monumental stainless steel sculpture created by revered Lithuanian artist, Vladas Vildziunas. Named in 1982 Honored Artist of Lithuania, Vladas has created some of the most influential monumental works in Lithuania to date. The elegant Barbora comes to Garrison from its prior exhibition in the Vancouver Biennale 2009-2011. Also of special note, Vladas is returning to Garrison after nearly 30 years, when he exhibited his small and mid-size sculptures in the galleries at Garrison Art Center.
The work of four other distinguished regional artists will also occupy the grounds, gardens and woodlands of Boscobel with charm, elegance, and wit. John Clement exhibits his brightly colored bent steel pipes that appear to defy gravity as they loop through space creating circular “line drawings.” A student of such acclaimed artists as Marc di Suvero and John Henry, Clement’s geometric work follows a similar tradition of large-scale Constructivist-inspired sculpture, and yet breaks the boundaries of the genre by constantly playing with the ideas of form and space in curvilinear compositions. Clement currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
Tom Holmes exhibits works in steel and wood that explore geometric shapes and balance. “I am drawn to working in the six elements of stone, metal, wood, light, ice and water. They give me the ability to work intuitively. All possibilities can exist briefly before I impose parameters with regard to my emotional and intellectual contexts,” he explains. His large body of work has been exhibited throughout the eastern United States.
James Murray returns to CURRENT with works carved from wood and stone created specifically for Garrison Art Center and the Boscobel grounds. Two of Murray’s works are utilitarian and while beautiful themselves, invite viewers to sit upon them and look outward to enjoy the breathtaking views from Boscobel. Other works by Murray represent his signature style of combining cast offs of nature and man that breathe a second life through his inspired craftsmanship.
Ceramist Jeff Shapiro offers large-scale, wood-fired sculptures that complement the natural beauty of Boscobel. A very large ceramic platter, nearly 5-feet-wide, will grace the herb garden, at home among the manicured herbs, flowers and intertwining vines that surround it. Other works that reflect Shapiro’s philosophical response to the beauty that exists in the imperfections of nature can be seen elsewhere on the grounds.
Garrison Art Center’s sculpture exhibition runs through October 8 at Boscobel. To view Boscobel’s hours and entrance fees, click here.
