Contact: Vige Barrie
Phone: (315) 859-4623 May 25, 2006
A sculpture outside South.
Hamilton College's Emerson Gallery is showcasing the work of 12 sculptors in an outdoor and indoor exhibition in collaboration with Sculpture Space, a Utica-based international residency program. The exhibition, part of Sculpture Space's celebration of its 30th anniversary, is titled "Sculpture Space Inside Outside." The exterior portion of this two-part show includes 10 installations on the college's North Campus. Located inside the gallery, the second part of the exhibition documents the development of each installation and includes biographical information on the artists.
Installation of the works outdoors is currently underway although that portion of the exhibition technically begins in May and will end in October 2006, weather permitting. Each work will be adopted by a student organization to nurture and care for it through October. The indoor portion opens on Friday, June 2, through Sunday, Sept. 10. The show and all associated events are free and open to the public.
The work in the exhibition presents a variety of media including wood, steel, bronze, plastic and fabric and a range of approaches to contemporary sculpture over the last 30 years. Artists participating in the exhibition include Roberley Bell, Emilie Brzezinski, Patricia Tinajero-Baker (with Ariadna Capasso and Damian Keller), Richard Friedberg, DeWitt Godfrey, Jonathan Kirk, John McCarty, Agata Olek Oleksiak, Takashi Soga and Hamilton graduate John von Bergen '63. Freiberg and von Bergen are two of the three founders of Sculpture Space. Kirk served as the program's studio manager for 20 years. "The work in this exhibition represents, among the artists, a range of career stages and of cultural backgrounds (Europe, Asia and North and South America). The artists represent a variety of approaches to contemporary sculpture making," explains Sculpture Space executive director Sydney Waller, advisory curator to the exhibition.
An opening reception, gallery talk and campus tour of the exhibition will be held on Saturday, June 3, from 3 to 5 p.m. Curator Deborah Pokinski, Hamilton College associate professor of art history, will present the talk and Sydney Waller will direct the campus tour. One of the 10 works is a performance installation. On Saturday, June 3, from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. and again on Friday, Sept. 8, performances will be staged.
According to art history professor Deborah Pokinski, the show's curator, "This exhibition is unprecedented at Hamilton College; never have we had the opportunity to display sculpture of this scale on our campus while at the same time showcasing the breadth of talent possessed by Sculpture Space alumni." David Nathans, the director of Emerson Gallery, shares in Pokinski's enthusiasm. "This show is a great first step at seeing what it will look like to have an outdoor sculpture collection at Hamilton. I want people to recognize that art belongs outside as a part of our everyday experience as well as inside in the often too quiet and too sterile environments called museums or galleries."
"Public Art on Campus," a symposium for artists, art professionals and educators to discuss the role and responsibilities of public art in the physical, social and pedagogic space of the college campus, will be held at Hamilton College on Friday, Sept. 8, and at Colgate University on Saturday, Sept. 9. Speakers from around the country will participate in this free two-day symposium.
Sculpture Space, a founding member of the Alliance of Artists Communities and the New York State Artist Workspace Consortium and a recipient of one of the first MacArthur Foundation awards for institutional advancement, was one of the first organizations to create an international residency program for emerging and mid-career artists in a large industrial space. Since 1976, the organization has helped advance the careers of more than 400 national and international artists from 20 countries and 28 states. The program currently selects 20 artists per year for two-month residencies. In addition to the exhibition at Hamilton College, other institutions participating in Sculpture Space's 30th anniversary celebration include Hartwick College, SUNYIT, Utica College, Colgate University, Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute, Stone Quarry Hill Art Park and Utica Public Library.
The exhibition and programs at Hamilton are sponsored by the Emerson Gallery, Sculpture Space and the Hamilton office of the Dean of Faculty as well as by private sources.
The Emerson Gallery is located on the Hamilton College campus in Clinton, New York, in the Christian A. Johnson Hall, directly behind the Chapel. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 10 am to 5 pm and Saturday & Sunday from 1 to 5 pm. For further information, including information on parking and wheelchair accessibility, please contact the Emerson Gallery at 315-859-4396 or toll-free at 866-556-5116 or consult our website http://www.hamilton.edu/gallery. Images of the works on the North campus and other material from the show will be accessible on the Sculpture Space Web site, wwww.sculpturespace.org later this month as well as on the Hamilton site at www.hamilton.edu/gallery.
