Hudson Valley artists create concept of time travel in Dorsky Exhibit

Poughkeepsie Journal

The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art’s ninth annual Hudson Valley Artists exhibit is open and this year, Anastasia James, curator of Exhibitions and Programs, asked artists to submit work that engages with the concept of time travel.

With more than 290 submissions, James selected 11 artists to exhibit their work in “Time Travelers.” In her curatorial statement, James wrote: “Physicists have long discussed the possibility of curves that form closed loops in space-time, allowing objects to return to their past.”

As visitors enter the gallery, there is a feeling of spaciousness with the selection of fewer artists.

Michael Berstein’s colorful pieces are strung through the ceiling struts and tied down with weights. Their bright colors and designs might remind viewers of the Quilters of Gee’s Bend.

Kyle Cottier creates work informed by architectural forms created out of found raw materials, such as wood, rope and stones. Two of his shaman-like pieces are featured on the central floor space of the main gallery.

Harry Leigh’s wall-mounted sculptural wood piece “Journey” is at the far end of the gallery — the dimly lit space creates a sense of reverence, as if visitors are entering a sacred space. The curved and linear wood structure reads as if it could be a deity from another time, aligning with the space-time continuum.

Alison McNulty, “Untitled (Hudson Valley Ghost Column 1)” was created from historic Hudson Valley-made Lahey bricks and originally installed on a working farm’s path to an animal’s watering hole. The hollow brick column is constructed with Cormo sheep wool instead of mortar, resulting in an artwork that pays homage to past industries that were the economic heart of the Hudson Valley.

Daniela Dooling also turns to obsolete techniques with her sculptural pieces created from vintage typewriters preserved in clear resin. Dooling’s works reference a personal history with a great-grandmother that typed more than 2,000 pages documenting messages she received from a peace envoy traveling on spaceships from Venus to Earth. The works are wall-mounted with what appears to be surgical steel armatures, giving the works the feel of entering a lab to see historic specimens that have in the past provided messages that could be important today.

Antonella Piemontese creates sculptural hand-sewn fabric masks. Her suite of works, “Twelve Angry Masks,” are installed in one line across the gallery wall. Each mask has individual characteristics, however, they feel foreboding since many of them have no way to see out. Piemontese provided background about her idea in making the masks that seems like the opening to a science fiction story that begins: “In a not so distant future, preserving anonymity will be essential to in-person human interaction.” If each person must choose which mask to wear, this foretells a future not yet in sight, but with historical references to ancient rituals.

Yvonne Muller’s beautiful abstract prints have meanings that can be teased out from the titles, such as, “Raven,” “Snake,” “Mouse.” Muller “challenges the viewer to think about whether time travel is something humans do or whether time, itself, travels around.”

Linda Marston-Reid is an artist, writer, and executive director of Arts Mid-Hudson. The column appears every other week in Enjoy! Contact her at 845-454-3222 or lmr@artsmidhudson.org

If you go

“Time Travelers” is on view at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, State University of New York at New Paltz, 1 Hawk Drive, through Nov. 11. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday-Sunday (the museum is open only on weekends in August)

“Special Time Travelers” related events:

2-3 p.m., July 15: Gallery talk with exhibiting artists Alison McNulty, Antonella Piemontese, Harry Leigh and Tony Moore

2-4 p.m., Aug. 12: Family Day, exhibition-inspired activities for children and their families; register at: http://www.newpaltz.edu/museum/learn/familydays

2-3 p.m., Sept. 23: Gallery talks with Daniella Dooling, Gregory Slick, Kyle Cottier, Lynne Oreese Breslin, Michael Bernstein and Millie McKinley