The Arts

Rock, Paper, Scissors at Windham Fine Arts

Remember that game? A way to solve a problem or choose a turn? Well, the title of this exhibit is a bit literal. Windham Fine Arts is very pleased to present a group exhibit featuring works in stone, works on paper, and works in metal. This show is all about the medium, the stuff with which an artist makes their ideas come alive. One of the hallmarks of a true artist is that love for the materials they use to create the work. The artists in this exhibition—Peter Diepenbrock, Lisbeth Firmin, Antonio Perez Melero, Kevin VanHentenryck and in her WFA debut, Kristine Corso Tolmie—have rather different things to “say” through their work. However, an obvious love of the medium chosen runs through the hands of each. The outcome of the individual works is very much subject to the malleability (metal), or inflexibility (stone), or unpredictability (paper) of the medium. Stone is ancient, made of recycled sea creatures (limestone) in the case of Van Hentenryck’s “Mary,” pictured above. The method for releasing a form is a subtractive one. A carving can last thousands of years without any particular care at all. Paper, however, is a much more delicate matter! The ethereal prints of Kristine Corso Tolmie have a delicate movement impressed upon the paper. Fossil-like impressions embedded subtly in web-like etchings recall ancient designs. Kris has said that one of the things she enjoys about her medium is that the process of printmaking, working in reverse, and on the texture of paper, creates “surprises”. Each image is slightly unpredictable, and thus quite unique!

Rock, Paper, Scissors runs through April 18. Windham Fine Arts is located at 5380 Main Street in Windham, NY. Gallery hours are Thursday through Monday from 11 am to 5 pm. For more information, call the gallery at 518 734 6850 or visit www.windhamfinearts.com.

Vincent Serbin: Raw Objects Appear Life Size, a Series of Photograms at Galerie BMG

Well-known for his unique negative collage process, Vincent Serbin has applied a similar, yet innovative, collage concept to a new series of photograms which will be the opening exhibition for the spring season at Galerie BMG in Woodstock. Running from April 9 through May 17, Raw Objects Appear Life Size combines ordinary objects with photographic negatives and x-rays, resulting in a fascinating exploration of scale and positive / negative conversions.

Vincent describes it as a simple process by which he places objects on a sheet of photo paper in the darkroom and exposes them to light. He then develops the paper with standard darkroom processes. In addition to the photogram technique, some of the prints were processed by spreading the developer over just certain areas of the paper, producing a free form image. He also selected sepia, selenium and blue toners to tone the prints and hand-painted some of the images with artist’s oils.

While one can find symbolic meanings or references in these compositions, Vincent explains that he has composed these images with a “sense of free association and in a style that is akin to Art Brut, that is ‘art without intellectual concerns’ or ‘raw art’. The very nature of arranging objects by hand under the dim, amber glow of the darkroom safe lights can often yield surprising results that are truly one of a kind”.

Raw Objects Appear Life Size” will be on display from April 9 through May 17, with an artist’s reception scheduled on Saturday, April 10 from 5 to 7 pm. Galerie BMG is located at 12 Tannery Brook Road in Woodstock. Gallery hours are Friday through Monday, 11 am to 6 pm or other times by appointment. For more information, please call 845 679 0027 or visit www.galeriebmg.com.

Organist Gregory D’Agostino in Saugerties

On Sunday April 25, Saugerties Pro Musica celebrates the return of the organ virtuoso, Gregory D’Agostino. His pipe organ concert of two years ago packed the Methodist church during an ice storm! Hopefully we’ll have better weather this year, but there can be no better playing from this internationally recognized and incredibly talented organist.

Gregory D’Agostino came to national attention as a concert organist when he performed two different back-to-back memorized concerts for the 100th anniversary of the American Guild of Organists before overflowing crowds of 3,400 at New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine and Church of St. Mary the Virgin. The New York Times praised his “deft, powerful performances” for his recital series at New York’s famed Riverside Church, and The Washington Post has likewise acclaimed his playing as “brilliant” and “impeccable.”

Mr. D’Agostino is an active member of the American Guild of Organists and serves on the national committee on Seminary and Denominational Relations. He has given masterclasses for universities and AGO chapters, and has been guest lecturer at Juilliard, faculty of various Pipe Organ Encounter (POE) programs for young organists, and director and faculty of New York City’s first POE.

The concerts following organist Gregory D’Agostino’s will be the West Point Brass on May 2, and on May 16 the Catskill Glee Club will perform our final concert of the season. Both May concerts are FREE.

Saugerties Pro Musica concerts present a wonderful opportunity to share great music, refreshments, and a sense of community with your neighbors without the expense. They are held at the Saugerties United Methodist Church, on the corner of Washington Avenue & Post Street. All concerts are on Sunday at 3 pm. Admission is $12 Adults, $10 Seniors, and Students with ID always FREE! For more information, call 845 246 5021 or visit www.saugertiespromusica.org.

At the West Kortright Centre … Dr. Tony Cicoria, Oneonta-Based Orthopedic Surgeon, Pianist and Composer Featured in Dr. Oliver Sacks’ Book, Musicophilia

On Sunday, April 18, at 2 pm, the West Kortright Centre welcomes Dr. Tony Cicoria in a special benefit performance. Featured in the New Yorker and in Oliver Sacks’ book, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, and in several documentaries including the BBC, PBS, German Public Radio and WSKG, Dr. Cicoria will talk about his amazing near-death & out-of-body experience after being hit by lightning 16 years ago in a phone booth at a family reunion. Not long afterwards, Tony began to have an insatiable desire to listen to and play classical piano, and music began coming to him in dreams. He will play several of his original compositions and then open the auditorium up to a question and answer session. There will be a reception in the Roberts Room Gallery following.

This performance is a benefit for the West Kortright Centre and is open to the public with a free-will donation at the door. Seating for this event is first come, first serve. The West Kortright Centre is located in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains—mid-way between the towns of Oneonta, Delhi, and Stamford—in northern Delaware County. For more information and directions, call The Centre at 607 278 5454 or visit www.westkc.org.

New Spring Exhibitions at The Roxbury Arts Group

The Roxbury Arts Group is starting its spring gallery season with two exhibitions on display through April 16: the work of Janice DeMarino and Fawn Potash will be at The Old Bank Gallery on Main Street in Roxbury, and the work of Diane Powell and Ariel Delacroix Dax will be at The Walt Meade Gallery on Vega Mountain Road.

Janice DeMarino, a member of The Longyear Gallery in Margaretville, is well known in the local art scene and in New York City. She holds an M.F. A. from Hunter College in New York, and has been the recipient of several awards that have allowed her to study papermaking, paper casting and encaustic techniques regionally and in Italy. Her work in the current exhibit is called “Underlying Causes,” and DeMarino says “For each of these paintings, objects were placed beneath the canvas surfaces and prints or rubbings were taken from the objects. Using literal or concrete connections for causes that are underlying a surface has become an important concept for me. The items used for the rubbings are not necessarily significant, but derive a visual meaning when incorporated into the paintings.”

Fawn Potash is an artist, arts administrator and art educator whose work has been shown by Gallery Ehva in Provincetown, MA, The Howard Greenberg Gallery in New York City, the Anne Reed Gallery in Sun Valley and the Elena Zang Galllery in Woodstock, NY. Her work is in collections worldwide. Her imagery has appeared in national and regional publications, and for 15 years she has been an instructor at the School of Visual Arts in New York. She has also pioneered a series of workshops for 6-18 year olds at the Catskill Community Center, teaching camera and darkroom skills as well as conceptual and visual literacy. The work in this exhibit are gathered under the title “Winter Garden Series,” and Potash says “I think of the earliest works here as Visceral Landscapes, land that embodies the emotional terrain. Hopes and wishes appear in the light and in the drawings of plants reaching with out-of-season blooms. As global warming becomes a part of our everyday consciousness I see the plant realm and ours becoming one. I am combining anatomical elements with the leaves and weeds flourishing around me. These pieces are a combination of photographs and oil drawings inscribed on encaustic surface.”

Diane Powell was born in Ohio and received an M.F.A. from Ohio State University. She has studied Ukiyo-e printmaking in Kyoto and Tokyo, Japan and painting and sculpture in France, Italy and Holland. Powell works in a former train station in South Kortright, NY. Be it surrounded by the lush Catskill Mountains or the busy time she divides in New York City, she finds inspiration in all aspects of humanity. Ideas emerge from experience and observation, with an endless flow of work. Color is the basic principle from which she draws inspiration.

Ariel Delacroix Dax was born in Manhattan and studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She has worked in the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum and divides her time between New York City and the Catskill Mountains. She is exhibiting her work in bronze.

The Old Bank Gallery of the Roxbury Arts Group is located at 53484 State Route 30 in Roxbury, NY. The Walt Meade Gallery is located at The Roxbury Arts Center, 5025 Vega Mt. Road, Roxbury, NY. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm or by appointment. For more information, call 607 326 7908 or visit www.roxburyartsgroup.org.