The Arts

The Art of Nature at Windham Fine Arts

On February 9 Windham Fine Arts opens The Art of Nature, featuring the paintings of James Coe, Malcolm Scott DuBois, Sean Murtha and Eva van Rijn, four artists solidly established in the genre of naturalist painting. All four of these artists have been featured in the prestigious juried Birds in Art yearly show at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum. This is the first “wildlife” show Windham Fine Arts has presented and the wildlife in question is for the most part is feathered. In some cases the paintings will look as though they are exquisite plein-air landscapes, but on closer examination a bird may be nesting in a tree; in other paintings the bird or birds will be the primary focus of the work to be admired in all their glory.

James Coe, a favorite at Windham, will show another aspect to his talent. Before he was know as a popular plein-air artist Coe was a nature illustrator. Best known as the author/illustrator of the Golden Field Guide Eastern Birds, his bird illustrations have been featured on the covers of numerous magazines and ornithological journals. Work of this type has to be detailed, sharp and crisp but above all, accurate. In his free time he would explore the joys of a looser style in his plein-air work. The new work in this show highlights both skills. .

Malcolm Scott DuBois started as a predominately self-taught artist but began intensive studies with master painters of various disciplines becoming proficient in everything from figurative to still-life and nature. “Each painting begins with a concept, something I wish to convey, regardless of the subject,” he says of his work. Malcolm’s work is known for the intimate everyday portrayals that understate a deep appreciation for the artistic process and the connection with the viewer that is created.

Sean Murtha draws and paints from life as often as possible because then he may get a gesture of or a shape that may not come though in a photo. He will also use taxidermy, skins and even newly dead birds as source material to ensure the accuracy of his renderings. Murtha believes a bird taken out of its environment is a lovely thing but only tells part of the story. Good wildlife artists identify birds not just their shape and pattern but also the places they are found and the challenge is to capture the season and the habits of these small subjects. “Between their speed and the subtle play of light on plumage a painting of a bird is at best a work in progress.”

Flamingos sprinting across sand, a raven soaring above the Grand Canyon or a group of audacious crowned cranes are just a few of the subjects in the distinctive work of Eva van Rijn. After immigrating to the United States from Holland during World War II, she spent summers exploring the west with her family, which became the inspiration for her art. She continues the camping tradition with her daughter, artist Maia Chavez, creating plein-air paintings that become the basis for larger paintings in her studio. Eva van Rijn recently won Juror’s Choice Award in “Paint America,” a national competition: her winning painting is on tour with the exhibition’s “Top 100” for the rest of the year.

Come enjoy the early return of birds at the opening reception from 5:00 to 7:00 pm on Saturday, February 9. The show runs through March 3.

Windham Fine Arts is located at 5380 Main Street in Windham. Gallery hours are Thursday through Monday from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. For more information, call 518 734 6850 or check the Web at www.windhamfinearts.com.

Nudes and Foods at the Mark Gruber Gallery

Quick—Think of an image depicting beauty, temptation and desire. Bet you’re torn between a sensual nude and a sumptuous feast. “Nudes and Foods” at the Mark Gruber Gallery has what you need to satisfy your hunger for both. The similarities between nudes and foods are apparent. The sensuousness of the shapes, the luminosity of the forms speaks to our wish for the ideal in all we see and feel. This group show opened on Saturday, January 26 and will run through March 12, 2008.

These two often repeated subjects can be found at the beginning of art history: from the early hunt paintings on cave walls to classic Greek and Roman figurative sculpture. Nudes and foods can be found throughout the reawakening of knowledge in the Renaissance, Baroque feasts and Impressionistic domestic life. From Matisse to the latest Will Cotton confection, nudes and foods have defined the sensual and sensuous in our ever-evolving culture. Instant gratification at the Mark Gruber Gallery “can be had” through the works of Eric Angeloch, Michael Peery, Max Miller, Paul Abrams, Staats Fasoldt, Mirielle Duchesne, Gayle Clark Fedigan, Marlene Weidenbaum, Kevin Cook, Keith Gunderson, Marie-Louise McHugh, Delah McKay, Susan Budash, Robert Trondsen, Gail Cohen, John DeMartin, Robin Guthridge, and Maxine Gruber among others—many favorites and several new artists to the gallery.

The Mark Gruber Gallery is located in the New Paltz Plaza (Super Stop and Shop) in New Paltz. Gallery hours are Monday from 11:00 am to 5:30 pm; Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm; Saturday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, and Sunday from noon to 4:00 pm. For more information, please contact Mark Gruber at 845 255 1241.

An Acoustic Evening with Lyle Lovett & John Hiatt at UPAC

On Sunday, February 17 at 7:00 pm, Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt will perform a set of acoustic songs together on stage at the Ulster Performing Arts Center in Kingston.

Four-time Grammy winner Lyle Lovett is often described as a country-western musician, but his musical catalogue is far too diverse for one category. Lovett has been bounding across genres for more than a decade. He maintains a country label because he holds onto the attributes of his past: ironic detachment, twisted humor, serious songwriting, and the capacity to jerk a tear or two. Lovett says, “For me, writing is just an exercise in trying to figure everything out.”

One of the most celebrated songwriters alive, John Hiatt's compositions have been covered by dozens of artists including Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, Nick Lowe, the Neville Brothers, Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, B. B. King with Eric Clapton, Paula Abdul, Jimmy Buffett, Jewel and Mandy Moore. The Tennessean has called him “…one of our greatest living songwriters.”

Purchase your tickets in person at the Bardavon Box Office, 35 Market Street, Poughkeepsie: 845 473 2072 or in person at the UPAC Box Office, 601 Broadway Kingston: 845 339 6088 or online at TicketMaster: 845 454 3388.

At the Catskill Mountain Foundation (map)…

In the Gallery: Best On Paper
Through February 10, 2008
CMG Gallery, Hunter Village Square, Main Street, Hunter
Featuring paintings, drawings and monotypes by contemporary artists of regional and national acclaim.

In the Gallery: Outside the Box
February 16-March 16, 2008
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 16, 4-6 pm
CMF Gallery, Hunter Village Square, Main Street, Hunter
Outsider Art show featuring forms of creative expression that exist outside accepted cultural norms. This show will include works by some well known outsider artists, such as Pervis Young, Jimmie Lee Sudduth and Howard Finster as well as some emerging artists in the field.

Family Performance:
Alexander—King of Jesters!
Saturday, February 16, 3:30 pm
Doctorow Center for the Arts, Rte. 23A Main Street, Village of Hunter, NY (opposite the CMF Red Barn & Hunter Village Square)
Tickets: $7
A family performance for all ages.
“Outrageous, offbeat and full of surprises!”—New Zealand Herald
“Hilarious, imaginative…a gem of an artist!”—Rick Waldman, Capitol Center for the Arts, Concord NH
This event is made possible in part through the James Rem Memorial Fund

Call 518 263 2063 or visit www.catskillmtn.org for information about Catskill Mountain Foundation (map) events.

Recent Works by John Leone in Delhi, New York

The Delhi Fine Arts Gallery proudly presents John Leone: The Fine Art of the Horse, opening on Saturday, February 9 and running through Sunday, March 23.

Master equine painter John Leone returns to the Catskill Mountains in a new solo-exhibition of works featuring the horse as fine art. Considered to be among “the finest equine painters this side of the Mississippi,” Leone approaches painting in the manner of the old masters. He begins work with a detailed pencil drawing rendered on parchment that is then transferred to a toned canvas or panel. In a method classically known as grisaille, he then paints a monochrome version of the painting, developing a sculptural effect (or bas-relief). He then painstakingly paints over this in layers of color (or glazes), giving the painting, the three-dimensional quality of objects as we experience them.

John Leone began his career in New York City and became a highly esteemed and sought after illustrator of books and magazines. The core of his work often centered on the distinctive landscape of the American experience, and ultimately his love of the land brought him to purchase a farm in New York’s Catskill Mountains. It was here that he commenced to focus on a career in the fine arts. He acquired his own horses and began to hone his riding skills. He attached an indoor arena to his barn and joined horse shows and hunter-pace events. The hounds and horses in his paintings are frequently his own, and the landscapes often of the areas surrounding his old Delaware County farm.

John Leone was born in New York City and received his formal art training at the School of Art & Design and at Cooper Union in New York City. His work has been featured on the dust jackets of countless western and adventure novels published by Simon & Schuster and Grossett & Dunlap. He has been represented by galleries in New York, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Santa Fe, Scottsdale, Virginia and Palm Beach. Mr. Leone has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions and was recently part of a sold-out, two-man exhibition in Tokyo. Mr. Leone’s work has been included in the collections museums and is featured in numerous private collections. He and his wife, Marty, live in rural New York, where they share space with some of the hounds and horses who populate his artwork.

An opening reception will be held on Saturday, February 9, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. The Delhi Fine Arts Gallery is located at 84 Main Street in Delhi. Winter gallery hours are Friday through Sunday and Holiday Mondays from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm and by appointment. For more information please call 607 746 2664 or visit www.delhifinearts.com.

“Sing Happy!” at the Andes Hotel

“Sing Happy!” the musical genius of Kander & Ebb will be presented by cabaret artists Patricia Dell and Kent Brown at the Andes Hotel on Saturday, February 23 at 7:00 pm. This wonderful evening of song features selections from Kander & Ebb’s hit shows such as Cabaret, Curtains, The Visit and Chicago, as well as from their lesser known works.

To accompany the saucy and sultry sounds of Patti & Kent, the staff at the Andes Hotel is preparing a great menu of small, big, savory and sweet menu items to tempt every palate. All menu items are on à la carte basis so come for an appetizer, full dinner or just a drink or dessert!

Patti Dell is a versatile performer with a career that has taken her thought out the United States performing in concert, recital, opera and musical theater. She had the pleasure of studying with Marni Nixon and Regine Crespin in New York City as well as Gerard Souzay in the south of France. Her musical theater career has included roles in 42nd Street, Milk Money and A Little Night Music.

Kent Brown is a native Midwesterner who has been an organist since the age of 12 and earned his Master of music degree from the University of Texas. Since moving to Margaretville, NY in 1986, he teaches piano privately and has frequent concerts in the area as pianist, organist and cabaret performer.

Cover charge is $10 per person. Reservations are strongly suggested: please call 845 676 3980. For more information on the Andes Hotel and future upcoming events visit www.andeshotel.com.

Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art Addresses the Intimacies of Distant War

March 2008 marks the 5th anniversary of the American-led invasion of Iraq, and Americans are attempting to come to terms with the conflict’s purpose, moral obligations and extricating themselves from the war. Putting the current Iraqi war on view and in its context is the intention of Brian Wallace, curator for the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, who has organized the exhibition Intimacies of Distant War. The exhibition opens on February 8 with a reception from 6:00 to 8:00 pm in the Alice and Horace Chandler Gallery at the museum. The exhibition will be on view through April 13, 2008. Past and current works by Lida Abdul, Leon Golub, Daniel Heyman, Mark Hogancamp, An-My Lê, Steve Mumford, Yoko Ono and Carolee Schneemann are featured in the exhibition.

Commenting on the ghastly experience of war is not a new artistic movement. From Napoleon’s invasion of Spain (Goya); the aftermath of World War I (Dix); the pre-WW II bombing of Guernica (Picasso), to the current affairs in Iraq and Afghanistan, artists have felt compelled to record or comment on their personal encounters with conflict or the experiences of others.

Intimacies of Distant War brings together artists from different generations who investigate the intimate emotional impact of distant conflicts in disparate but connected ways through the media of film, photography, printmaking, painting and installation from the 1960s to the present.

Lida Abdul, based in Los Angeles and her native Kabul, Afghanistan, will exhibit her video/audio installation that depicts the daily realities—and the universal resonances—of life in the often still-violent aftermath of the wars found in and over the country of Afghanistan. Abdul poses questions about place, community and the meaning of our surroundings, suggesting alternative ways of looking at space and its cultural implications as well as the physical changes present in her home country.

Leon Golub’s urgent Mercenaries paintings from the 1970s and the small, caustic studies on canvas and board from the two years before his death in 2004 (several of each body of work are included in this exhibition) are viscerally honest and terribly beautiful. Golub is recognized for his expressive political paintings, exploring issues of war, power, violence, race, oppression and human suffering.

Philadelphia-based artist Daniel Heyman’s print and watercolor transcript/portraits, made while the artist sat in on interviews conducted by human rights lawyers in Istanbul, Turkey, and Amman, Jordan, with individual Abu Ghraib detainees, convey the ugliest, and yet hint at the best possible, sides of human nature. For three days he sat in on interviews with victims of horrendous abuse, recording their terrible stories. During the testimonies he quickly sketched portraits of the men and occasionally women, eventually integrating the text and image. Eighteen recent works from his Istanbul and Istanbul Watercolor Series and a new book project by this Philadelphia-based artist are included in the exhibition.

Ulster County resident Mark Hogancamp will be exhibiting photographs of his obsessively detailed scale-model set-piece narratives relating to war and his personal experiences. The images are psychologically intense, extremely anachronistic and compellingly real, despite their blatant artificiality. The exhibition includes five 20-print series from Marwencol created during the past five years that document what the artist characterizes as episodes from a long-running story.

Vietnam-born, New York-based artist An-My Lê maintains an apparent emotional and formal distance from the subjects of her photographs and a two-channel film installation. In 29 Palms, Marines train in a film-set familiar southern California landscape, with fake Iraqi villages and anti-American graffiti scrawled on wall surfaces, in preparation for the conflict in the Middle East and the next war.

Steve Mumford made numerous trips from New York City to Iraq during the beginning and middle stages of the current conflict, during some of that country’s most dangerous times. During his stays, Mumford completed hundreds of watercolor sketches of soldiers and Iraqis at work and at rest and has posted them on the Artnet Web site along with his commentaries about the trips. The exhibition includes a suite of 10 of these works.

Yoko Ono’s simple $1.00 multiple—a small pin bearing the text Imagine Peace—presupposes intimacy in its very form at the same time that it turns the wearer into a walking public statement: a statement that, harkening back to past activist practices but referring directly to the current war, contains rich ambiguities of intention and signification. Ono, based in New York, is working with Printed Matter, also in New York, and the SDMA to supply buttons for all visitors during the exhibition.

New Paltz artist Carolee Schneemann in 1967 made the film Viet-Flakes. Like much of her other work produced during her 40-year career, the film is a raging assault upon and a deft analysis of the personal and political positions that we have to decide, constantly, to adhere to or abandon. Viet-Flakes is composed from an obsessive collection of Vietnam War images, compiled over five years from foreign magazines and newspapers. Broken rhythms and visual fractures in the film are heightened by a sound collage by James Tenney of Vietnamese religious chants, secular songs, fragments of Bach and '60s pop hits.

The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art is located on the campus of SUNY New Paltz. Museum hours are Tuesday through Friday from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm and Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Admission is free. For more information, call the museum at 845 257 3844 or visit www.newpaltz.edu/museum.

A Major Retrospective of the Famed New Yorker Artist Saul Steinberg Concludes its National Tour at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College

An artist whose magic lit up the pages and covers of The New Yorker magazine for six decades is the subject of the major new retrospective exhibition Saul Steinberg: Illuminations, organized by the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College. The exhibition is the first full-scale review of Steinberg’s career, spanning the 1930s to the 1990s, and will run through February 24.

While Steinberg is best known for his work in The New Yorker, the exhibition also brings to light the prolific and diverse activity for which Steinberg was celebrated from the time he arrived in New York in 1942. It features more than one hundred drawings, collages and sculptural assemblages by the artist whom many regard as not only a comic genius but among the greatest draftsmen of the modern era.

Saul Steinberg: Illuminations has received wide praise during its national tour, which began in December of 2006 and will have its final showing through February 24 at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center. The exhibition was also seen at the J. Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum in New York, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. and the Cincinnati Art Museum.

“Is there any subject—or object, for that matter—that Saul Steinberg didn’t have at with his sword-like pen?,” wrote Grace Glueck in The New York Times. “The flow of his output amazes in Saul Steinberg: Illuminations.”

Added Karen Wilkin of the Wall Street Journal, “Thanks to a wonderful selection that includes not only a wide range of drawings, but also mural projects, constructions, and inventive paper-bag masks, those who associate Steinberg mainly with The New Yorker covers will discover a more complex artist.”

Having studied architecture in Milan, where he gained early fame as a cartoonist, in America, Steinberg (1914-1999) became a propagandist, illustrator, fabric and card designer, muralist, fashion and advertising artist, stage designer and tireless creator of image-jammed books. Until his decision in the 1960s to concentrate his efforts on gallery art and The New Yorker, Steinberg’s sleek, barbed, inventive line was seen—and mimicked—everywhere from highbrow journals to Christmas cards, disseminating the look of modernism to a popular atomic-age audience.

The exhibition features rarely seen works from the collections of private lenders and The Saul Steinberg Foundation. According to curator Joel Smith, author of the 2005 book Steinberg at the New Yorker (Abrams), “Saul Steinberg’s last American museum retrospective, in 1978, reflected the priorities of a living artist who wanted to be sure the public saw his career as that of a focused, museum-worthy artist. Today, what is most fascinating about Steinberg’s art is the vast range he commanded, from High to Low, from murals to magazines, from caricature to cartography. To look at Steinberg’s career in its full duration, depth, and variety is to catch a close-up view of the energies and contradictions of the twentieth century. You might also find yourself smiling a lot.”

The catalogue for Saul Steinberg: Illuminations, published by Yale University Press, features an introduction by poet and critic Charles Simic and an essay, chronology, and object entries by curator Joel Smith. The volume’s more than three hundred illustrations include color plates of works in the exhibition and many sketches, never before seen, from the Saul Steinberg Papers at Yale University. Support for the catalogue has been provided by Furthermore: a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund, and the exhibition has received grants from The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, and The Ann and Abe Effron Fund of the Community Foundation of Dutchess County.

The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center is located on the campus of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm and Sunday from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Admission is free. For more information, call the center at 845 437 5632 or visit the Web site at fllac.vassar.edu.

Pianist Steve Wogaman performs in Saugerties

On Sunday, February 24 at 3:00 pm, Saugerties Pro Musica presents pianist Steve Wogaman, who will perform a program featuring the works of Mozart, Schumann and Chopin.

Pianist Stephen Wogaman has been active as soloist and chamber musician throughout United States, as well as Spain and Central America. As founding pianist of the critically-acclaimed Whitney Trio, he made his performing debut in 1989 in a live radio broadcast concert at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. His performances include a USIA residency in San Jose, Costa Rica; a cultural exchange with the Orquestra Sinfonica de Galicia in La Coruna, Spain, and frequent performances with chamber music colleagues from the Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, and Canton (OH) Symphony, of which he is now President & CEO. A passionate devotee of the music of Robert Schumann, Steve recently anchored three separate programs in the 2006 Schumann Festival of the Marcella Sembrich Museum in Bolton Landing, NY.

In 1991, Steve was founder of New Performing Arts, Inc., a non-profit music outreach organization that has reached an audience of more than one million Kentucky children with live performing arts programs in their schools. He has performed personally for thousands of these children, often with his own grand piano brought along on a rented truck. Steve has also served as a faculty member of Indiana University Southeast, as music instructor and chair of the Humanities Division at Lees College in Jackson, Kentucky, and as the national coordinator of the Classical Initiative for Young Audiences, Inc.

The concert will take place at the Saugerties United Methodist Church on the corner of Washington Avenue & Post Street in Saugerties. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.saugertiespromusica.org.

In Rhinebeck…

The Rhinebeck Chamber Music Society presents three events during February and early March: The Four Nations Ensemble will perform on Saturday, February 2 at 8:00 pm; the Ariel Quartet will perform at a gala benefit on Sunday, February 17 at 4:00 pm, and the Pacifica String Quartet performs on Saturday, March 8 at 8:00 pm. All concerts will take place at the Church of the Messiah, 6436 Montgomery Street, Rhinebeck.

Founded in 1986, The Four Nations Ensemble brings together soloists who are leading exponents of period instrument and vocal performance to present great music from the Renaissance through the Viennese Classical masterpieces of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. For more than a decade, Four Nations has developed a leading presence on the early music scene in New York and across the country. With a core ensemble of harpsichord or fortepiano, violin(s), flute and cello, the Ensemble explores and performs the major masterpieces of the 17th and 18th centuries, from trio sonata to piano trio and quartet. Four Nations has performed at major houses and series throughout the United States including The Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center. The Ensemble has participated in festivals such as The Boston Early Music Festival, New York's Mostly Mozart, Amherst Festival, New Haven's International Festival of Arts & Ideas, Virginia Waterfront International Arts Festival, Chautauqua, The Indiana Early Music Festival, The Redwoods Festival in Santa Rosa, California, and Brasilseguridade in Rio de Janeiro.

Formed in Israel in 1998, the Ariel Quartet was coached by violinist Avi Abramovich, a leading teacher in Israel, and present head of the string department at the Jerusalem Academy of Music. Since 2004, the group has studied at New England Conservatory under the tutelage of Kim Kashkashian, Paul Katz and, this year, Martha Strongin Katz. All four of the players are 22 years old. Gerchikov and Even-Tov are Israeli natives; Kazovsky and Tarashchansky emigrated as children to Israel from Russia and Ukraine respectively.

The Ariel String Quartet debuted in 2000 at the Jerusalem Music Centre, going on to perform at venues including the Musée du Louvre, the Kennedy Centre, and Boston’s Jordan Hall. Grand Prize winners of the 2006 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, they placed first in the 2003 Franz Schubert and the Music of Modernity Competition in Graz, Austria in 2003. The quartet was one of the ten finalists at the 2007 Banff International String Quartet Competition and were awarded the Székley Prize for the best performance of a Bartok Quartet.

Recognized for its virtuosity, exuberant performance style, and daring repertory choices, the Pacifica Quartet has carved out a compelling musical path. Since the ensemble first came together in 1994, it quickly swept top prizes in several leading international competitions, including the 1998 Naumburg Chamber Music Competition. In 2002 the Pacifica was appointed to Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s CMS Two program for gifted young musicians, and it was further honored with Chamber Music America’s coveted Cleveland Quartet Award. In May 2006 the Pacifica received a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, only the second chamber music ensemble ever to be selected.

The Pacifica Quartet is an ardent advocate of contemporary music, commissioning and performing as many as eight new works a year. It has championed Elliott Carter’s string quartets and has distinguished itself in performances of the complete cycle of five Carter quartets in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and Cleveland, and abroad in Japan, Germany, and the Edinburgh International Festival. The New York Times wrote glowingly of the “astounding performances” and the Chicago Tribune praised the Quartet’s “astonishing talent, energy, and dedication.” Through its affiliation with Contempo, one of the country’s leading contemporary music organizations, the Quartet presents a series of concerts each year devoted to new music.

For more information about the Rhinebeck Chamber Music Society or to purchase tickets, call 845 876 2870 or visit their Web site at www.rhinebeckmusic.org.

Juried Shows at the Woodstock Artists Association and Museum

From February 9 through March 2, the Main Gallery at the Woodstock Artists Association and Museum will exhibit Recent Works, a show juried by Scott Richter. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, February 9 from 4:00 to 6:00 pm.

Scott Richter is a native of Atlanta, GA who currently resides in Weston, CT. He is represented by Elizabeth Harris Gallery in New York City and teaches at The Cooper Union. He has shown in numerous group and solo exhibitions and been the subject of numerous articles in the art press. New York Sun critic Stephen Maine wrote: “Simultaneously brawny and delicate, Mr. Richter’s work emerges from a limited, high-contrast palette, a sophisticated graphical vocabulary, and abundant wit.”

Also from February 9 through March 2, in the Founder’s Gallery, is an exhibition dedicated to Snow/Winter. An opening reception will be held on February 9 from 4:00 to 6:00 pm. Jurors are Bobby Blitzer and Frank D’Astolfo, WAAM Active Members.

From March 8 through April 7, the Main Gallery will host The Digital Show. An opening reception will be held on March 8 from 4:00 to 6:00 pm.

This exhibition will feature works created in or significantly manipulated and output in digital media. The juror for this exhibition is Howard Greenberg, whose expertise is frequently sought after by museums, galleries, educational institutions and industry associations. He has curated critically acclaimed traveling exhibitions, including Car Culture (1998) and Appeal to This Age (1995), a pictorial overview of the civil rights movement. He has lectured on topics related to photography's collection and history at art and educational institutions like New York University, George Eastman House and the Santa Barbara Art Museum. Greenberg has served on the juries of competitions sponsored by prestigious organizations such as the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund, and is currently a member of the American Photographic Historical Society (1975 to present), International Society of Appraisers (1982 to present), and Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD, 1984 to present). He served on the board of directors of AIPAD from 1987 to 1994 and currently sits on the advisory board of the Center for Photography in Woodstock.

The Woodstock Artists Association and Museum is located at 28 Tinker Street in Woodstock. Winter hours are Friday and Saturday from 12:00 to 6:00 pm and Sunday from 12:00 to 5:00 pm. For more information, call the Association at 845 679 2940 or visit their Web site at www.woodstockart.org.

Three Artists Paint the Landscape in Windham

An exciting show featuring three painters’ visions of the Hudson Valley opens at the Mountaintop Gallery in Windham on March 1.

Painter Ellen Perantoni is curating this show. Some of her recent work is in the exhibition, showing the strong influence of the Hudson River School in luminous and highly detailed oil landscapes. Her unique visionary treatment of Hudson Valley vistas, dramatic bluestone formations and the Catskill escarpment are apparent in oils ranging in size from 5" x 7" to 24" x 36". She created several mountain snow scenes especially for this “spring skiing season” exhibit. View www.artwanted.com/EllenPerantoni for examples of her work.

Distinguished watercolorist Mary Ann Heinzen of the lower Hudson Valley will exhibit her characteristically charming pastoral and snow scenes of the valley and mountains. Mary Ann is a skier and regular winter visitor to the Windham area. View her work online at www.maryannheinzen.com

Naomi Blum interprets the Hudson Valley landscape in semi-abstract fashion in a variety of media. Naomi is a part-time resident of Windham and her work is a familiar sight in the Hudson Valley and New York City.

The show will open with an artists’ reception at the Mountaintop Gallery on Saturday, March 1 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. The show runs through April 19. The Mountaintop Gallery is located at 5348 Main Street in Windham and is open Friday through Sunday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. For more information, call 518 734 3104 or visit www.greenearts.org.

At the Bardavon in Poughkeepsie…

Three special events for all ages are taking place at the Bardavon in Poughkeepsie this month

On February 10 at 3:00 pm is a special family event titled Addy: An American Girl Story. Celebrated African-American playwright Cheryl L. West adapts Connie Porter’s award-winning Addy books, part of the very popular American Girl series. Set in 1864 North Carolina, this production by Seattle Children’s Theatre brings to life the tale of young Addy and her mother who flee the oppression of slavery and go on a journey to freedom. This show is recommended for ages 8 and older.

On Friday, February 15 at 8:00 pm, Trinity Irish Dance will perform. The New York Post calls this group “witty and sassy. Perfectly paced spins, leaps, and clicks electrify audiences and prove what years of vigorous training can produce. A pure delight.”

An on Saturday, February 16 at 8:00 pm, enjoy the music and satire of Capitol Steps. Formed twenty-five years ago by Senate staffers, Capitol Steps musically satirize the very people and places who employ them. They put the mock in democracy.

Purchase your tickets for all of these events in person at the Bardavon Box Office, 35 Market Street, Poughkeepsie: 845 473 2072 or in person at the UPAC Box Office, 601 Broadway Kingston: 845 339 6088 or at TicketMaster: 845 454 3388.

Oneonta Gallery Shows Artist’s Lifetime of Work

The Upper Catskill Community Council of the Arts presents paintings, drawings, and “artistic artifacts” in A Legacy: John D. MacDonald (1924-2003). The show opened on Friday, January 25 at Wilber Mansion in Oneonta and runs through February 22.

Christina Hunt, Coordinator of Programming at the Arts Council, has been working closely with MacDonald’s daughter, Barbara, to prepare the exhibition. “It was Barbara’s idea to present one last exhibition of her father’s work before dispersing pieces to family members. It’s a very touching sentiment,” says Hunt.

“He was an exquisite illustrator and I feel honored that his family has chosen our gallery to celebrate his life.” She adds that the MacDonald family was generous enough to include pieces for sale in the exhibition.

According to organizers, John D. MacDonald was born in Lackawanna, NY in 1924, but was raised primarily in Syracuse. After his father’s death at age 12, his family moved to New Jersey. During those years, MacDonald traveled to Buffalo regularly to stay with his great aunt Annie Crawford, a successful artist, setting the stage for his future artistic endeavors.

“He would hitchhike throughout upstate New York finding summer work when school was not in session, and sketching much of what he saw,” explains Barbara MacDonald. She adds that after graduating from school, he joined the Army Air Force and became a World War II pilot and also designed illustrations for Yank magazine.

After the war, MacDonald married, raised a family and worked as an illustrator, cartoonist and art director, first with Dancer Fitzgerald and eventually as Senior Vice President and Art Director for Sullivan, Stauffer, Caldwell & Bayles, a large advertising agency in New York City.

He worked on ad campaigns including products like Lucky Strike, Pall Mall, Regal, Mop & Glo, and Lego; and worked on cartoon characters, especially in final development stages, such as Frosty-O Bear, Crusader Rabbit, King Leonardo and the Trix Bunny.

In 1967, the family purchased a farm outside Walton, NY and MacDonald began pursuing his own work as a painter, furniture designer, and decorative tile designer. He retired in 1990 from the advertising agency but continued to do freelance work until 1995 when he was diagnosed with macular degeneration, which eventually blinded him. During that time he traveled and continued working as an artist until his death in 2003.

“I am very pleased to share my father’s work as I have always seen it,” explains Barbara MacDonald, “together, as a life’s work; a progression from beginning to end.”

Also on display in the Hathaway Gallery is an exhibition of illustrations by Jamie Ormiston, pairing classic figurative sketches with edgy details and literary backdrops.

The Wilber Mansion is located at 11 Ford Avenue in Oneonta. The exhibitions run through February 22 and are free and open to the public. For more information on this and other programs of the Arts Council visit www.uccca.com or call 607 432 2070.

Incident Report in Hudson Presents Contemporary Portraits of Abraham Lincoln

On February 12, 2008, Abraham Lincoln celebrates his 200th year. In honor of this moment in history, Incident Report, an art exhibition space recently opened in Hudson, NY, will put up a show of contemporary portraits of Abraham Lincoln created out of fibers by local artist Oscar Strodl. Working in roving wool (raw wool floss before it is spun), thread and yarn, Strodl creates haunting portraits of the 16th American president that explore the complex, often contradictory, sides of Lincoln as a man, president, and American icon. The Lincoln portraits will be on display from February 12 through the first weeks of March.

The memory of Abraham Lincoln in the American psyche is one of strength, decisiveness, and political ambition. Yet Lincoln was also famously melancholic, sensitive, and sympathetic. “Visually, Lincoln’s image is a perfect symbol for America because he is full of contradiction, presenting an opportunity in this age of self-loathing for us to feel comfortable with our contradictions,” says Strodl. “Like Lincoln, this country cannot be summarized.” The heightened visual tension of these portraits created from interwoven, meticulously structured fibers—roving wool, thread, and yarn—resolves itself into extremely vivid images of the assassinated president.

Incident Report is an experimental viewing station for visual projects, located at 348 Warren Street in Hudson, NY. It is always open. Formally arranged projects as well as improvised situations can be found at the IR viewing station: It is a place for seeing and thinking, interrogating the world, or showboating, or introducing open-ended quandaries, or playing tricks, or attempting to laugh at universal truths. It is different all the time, disregarding its limitations and proceeding.