ArtBeat: What To See

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Speakeasy Gala @ Albany Center Gallery, Albany. Marking the 80th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition, this annual benefit for Albany Center Gallery takes place Saturday, December 7th, at 90 State Street in downtown Albany. The 1920s speakeasy-themed party features food from Mazzone Hospitality, limited and specialized art from regional artists, competitive auctions and raffles, buzz-worthy old-timey cocktails and live entertainment. In addition, ACG will present the Artist of the Year and Les Urbach Awards to two outstanding individuals.

The Birds and the Bugs @ Limner Gallery, Hudson. Paintings and sculpture by Dave Channon. Reception: Saturday, December 7, 5-7pm. (Through December 29)

Tracy Helgeson @ Harrison Gallery, Williamstown. A solo exhibition of paintings inspired by the rural landscapes of valleys and old barns of upstate New York. Opening reception: Saturday, December 7, 5-7pm. (Through December 31)

upstate Artists @ The Laffer Gallery, Schuylerville. A group exhibition of works selected by David Miller, Professor Emeritus at Skidmore College. Artists include: Abraham Ferraro, Anne Francey, Anne Sutherland. Audrie Sturman, Bob Augstell, Cheryl Horning, Chris DeMarco, Chris Gonyea, Christopher Murray, Constance Alexander, Dan Greenfeld, David Aimone, David Arsenault, David Francis, David Seiler, David Waite, Dorthea Osborn, Gary Shankman, Hollyn Blair, Ian Creitz, Jay Freud, Jenny Hutchinson, Jill Fishon-Kovachick, Jim Flosdorf, JoAnne Axford, Kate Edwards, Laura Frare, Laura Von Rosk, M.C. Huskie, Mark Schmidt, Mary Kathryn Jablonski, Maxine Tucker, Newbold Bohemia, Paul Kant, Peter Leue, Randi Kish, Regis Brodie, Robert Gullie, Robert Whiting, Russell Serrianne, Samuel Negrich, Sandy Miller, Stu Eichel, Susan Stuart and Tom Schottman. Opening reception: Saturday, December 7, 5-8pm. (Through January 5)

Annual Members’ Exhibition @ Saratoga Arts, Saratoga Springs. This annual show features over 150 artists exhibiting artworks ranging from painting, drawing and printmaking to sculpture, functional fine art and photography. Opening Reception + Holiday Potluck: Saturday, December 7, 6-8pm. (Through December 31)

Dancing Princesses: The Picture Book Art of Ruth Sanderson @ Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge. A renowned fantasy artist and illustrator of children’s literature, Ruth Sanderson has created imagery for more than seventy-five picture books, many of which bring classic tales to life. This special holiday installation, featuring more than sixty original illustrations for classic and original stories, includes her personal favorite—The Twelve Dancing Princesses. Now in the permanent collection of the Norman Rockwell Museum, Ruth’s paintings and studies for this enchanting tale will be accompanied by the opulent costumes that she commissioned specifically for her work. (Through March 9)

ALSO NOTED

Chesterwood Holiday Pop-up Shop @ Main Street Cafe, Stockbridge. December 6-8, 10am-5pm.

Pittsfield First Friday Artswalk @ Downtown Pittsfield: Friday, December 6, 5-8pm.

Hudson Winter Walk @ Downtown Hudson: Saturday, December 6, 5-8pm.

Collective: 113 @ Collar Works, Troy. A group show of eight emerging artists: Kat Brockschmidt, Julia Fox, Erin Gardner, Dwane Hoyt, Andrew Kline, Alicia Lea, Angel Lopez and Alyssa McClenaghan. Opening reception: Saturday, December 7, 6-9pm. (Through December 10)

Made By Hand Invitational @ The Foundry for Art Design and Culture, Cohoes. A one day, indoor designer craft market featuring 15 jury-selected artists and designers from across the region offer fine crafted apparel, jewelry, accessories, house wares, paper goods, and more. Saturday, December 7, 11am-5pm.

99 and NINE: We Are Mused! @ MCLA Gallery 51, North Adams. Now in its fifth year, MCLA Gallery 51’a Annual affordable winter art exhibition remains true to its tradition of featuring “high art at low prices,” with all work priced between 99 cents and 99.99 dollars. Reception: December 5, 5-7pm. (Through December 30)

Art Bazaar @ Upstate Artists Guild, Albany. Handmade arts and items for holiday shopping. Opening reception: Friday, December 6, 6-9pm. (Through December 23)

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Zohar Lazar @ Hudson Opera House. An exhibition of drawings by illustrator Zohar Lazar, a frequent contributor to the New Yorker, the New York Times Sunday Magazine, Rolling Stone, Esquire, GQ, and numerous other publications. (Through December 7)

Field Elevations: Works by Ed Osborn @ HVCC Teaching Gallery, Troy. Finnish-born installation artist Ed Osborn, originally trained as a composer in traditional music, moved into art in the early 1990s and produced a body work in many forms of electronic media. In “Field Elevations,” Osborn uses low-tech gadgetry to create sculptures that can be activated to make sounds and evoke experiences that come from our everyday lives. (Through December 7)

Charlotta Westergren: Progeny @ Esther Massry Gallery, Albany. Paintings on linen, lamé and aluminum,works on paper and video works that examine our relationship with time and the increasing difficulty of stopping and slowing it in the modern age. (Through December 8)

Storytellers and Conjurers @ Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson. Works by Kahn & Selesnick, Eileen Murphy, Louise Laplante, Adam Cohen and Claire Lofrese. (Through December 8)

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Kate Gilmore: A Tisket, A Tasket and Suzanne McClelland: Furtive Gesture_CEDEpart2 @ University Art Museum, Albany. As the sole protagonist in her performative videos, Kate Gilmore struggles to overcome absurd and manufactured challenges – climbing out of holes, jumping rope in heels, squeezing out of tight spots, using her body to explore physical limits and social norms. Suzanne McClelland is best known for incorporating language with vivid abstract compositions. Riffing off the word cede and its homonym seed, McClelland’s hybrid presentation considers the many ways in which power shifts, separates, and grows. (Through December 14)

VETS: Portraits of Veterans of War @ Spencertown Academy Arts Center. Pittsfield resident Bill Wright, a veteran of Desert Storm/Shield, exhibits this deeply personal series of portraits of US veterans. Opening reception, catered by Culinary Command, a nonprofit program created by local Chef David Robinson for retooling and retraining veterans and active U.S. military for careers in food, restaurant, hotel and hospitality industries: (Through December 15)

An Armory Show @ The Opalka Gallery, Albany. The 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art in New York City, now simply referred to as “The Armory Show,” introduced America to Modernism. 100 years later, this exhibition by Michael Oatman and Kenneth Ragsdale investigates the dynamic changes that occurred in the art world in general as a result of its occurrence, and the history of its effect on the artistic life of the Capital Region. A salon, an exhibition within the installation, will include the work of over 40 artists from the region. (Through December 15)

Charcoal! @ Schick Art Gallery, Saratoga Springs. Works by David Nash, Dozier Bell, Dragna Crnjak, Maggie Evans, April Gornik, Ken Greenleaf, Scott Hunt, Susan Hauptman, Anthony Mitri, Emily Nelligan, Kate Ten Eyck and John Walker. Curated by Schick Gallery Director Paul Sattler in conjunction with the faculty gallery committee, the exhibit includes 33 drawings, three sculptures, and one installation created on site. The works represent a wide range of styles and subject matter, from moody interiors and atmospheric skyscapes to linear abstractions and figurative pieces that suggest mysterious but compelling narratives. (Through December 16)

Nocturnal @ BCB ART, Hudson. An exhibition focusing on events that happen after dark featuring works by Ching Ho Cheng, Barbara Friedman, Musho Rodney Alan Greenblat, Bill Griffith, Emily Gui, Lynn Itzkowitz, Karen Moss, Lucio Pozzi, Scott Reynolds, Eric Rhein, Kay Rosen, Judith Simonian, Lorenza Sannai, Andy Warhol and William Wegman. (Through December 19)

Haim Steinbach: Once Again The World Is Flat @ CSC Bard Hessel Museum, Annandale-on-Hudson. An exhibition of a number of the artist’s grid-based paintings from the early 1970s, as well as a series of reconfigured historical installations and major new works created in relation to a selection of works drawn from the Marieluise Hessel Collection. The artworks in the exhibition span Steinbach’s forty-year career. (Through December 20)

Helen Marten: No borders in a wok that can’t be crossed @ CSC Bard Hessel Museum, Annandale-on-Hudson. Helen Marten has created a group of works in diverse media – from sculptures to wall pieces and videos – in a comprehensive installation including many new works created specifically for the CCS Bard exhibition. (Through December 20)

Naomi Lewis @ Courthouse Gallery, Lake George. A solo exhibition of recent works on paper and digital prints by Naomi Lewis, who assembles networks of repeated visual elements that overlap and interlace with each other, creating structures that resemble forms in nature. The patterns in her work are used to create decorative “pseudo” wallpaper, paper cut doilies or modern day needlework samplers. Multiple layers are created not only by the patterns of interweaving forms, but also by combining her own drawings with remnants from loved ones, such as handwritten recipes, notes or buttons. Her work celebrates the connection between domestic craft, such as wallpaper, doilies, and samplers, with her own personal history.(Through December 20)

2×2 Collective: double consciousness @ The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Troy. A collaboration of four artists: Ben Altman, Maria Driscoll McMahon, Sandra Stephens and guest artist Carla Rae Johnson. Working with the gallery space in both traditional and non-traditional ways, the artists find common ground in their uses of the figure at the intersections of the social, political and the personal. (Through December 21)

PHOTOBOOK 2013 @ Davis Orton Gallery, Hudson. A juried international exhibition of photobooks and photographs. (Through December 22)

Opener 25: Hildur Asgeirsdottir Jonsson @ The Tang Teaching Museum and Gallery, Saratoga Springs. Hildur Ásgeirsdóttir Jónsson explores the overlap between painting and textile with shimmering paintings on woven silk thread. Often monumental in scale, her work takes its imagery from a range of sources, including brain scans, celestial objects, and most frequently, her native Icelandic landscape. (Through December 29)

OUTSIDER: Selections from the estate of Cynthia Coulter. @ BCB Art, Hudson. The late Cynthia Coulter was a well-respected artist who had a passion for collecting unique and unusual outsider art from her native state of Oklahoma, as well as from country locales in Texas, Illinois, and New York. This tribute exhibition will focus on select pieces from her impressive collection, such as ornate handmade lamps fashioned from ice cream sticks and marbles, tables made from twigs and sewing spools, colorful paintings and drawings, and carved and polychromed wooden animals. Per the artist’s wishes, all proceeds from the sale of these artworks will be donated to various charities, including the Texas Women’s Shelter and the US Humane Society. (Through December 29)

Curator’s Summer 2013 Choice @ Chace Randall Gallery, Andes. Works by Keith Cardwell, Christie Scheele, Inverna Lockpez, Grant Collier, Judith Lamb, Rimer Cardillo and Michael Rich. (Through December 29)

2013 Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region @ The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls. One of the oldest regionals in the country, this year the show is comprised of work by 75 artists selected by juror Dan Cameron. (Through December 29)

JFK 1963-2013 @ Time + Space Limited, Hudson. An installation by Linda Mussman inspired by the 50th anniversary of the assassination of JFK and its lingering impact. Appropriating images, in the spirit of Warhol and Rauschenberg, Mussmann offers her impressions of a time past. (Through December)

In conjunction with this exhibition, the Artists of the Mohawk Hudson Region Annex Show will open at The Shirt Factory, Glens Falls with an artists’ reception Friday, October 11, 8-10pm. (Through November 2) Also on display at The Hyde Collection: The Window Project, an installation consisting of eleven windows transformed into painted and assembled works of art by area youth, ages 16-21. (Through December 31)

Russel Wright: The Nature of Design @ New York State Museum, Albany. An exhibition featuring the work and philosophy of renowned industrial designer Russel Wright, exploring his career from the 1920s through the 1970s and including approximately 40 objects along with photographs and design sketches. (Through December 31)

Clark Remix @ The Clark, Williamstown. A salon-style installation of works from The Clark’s permanent collection, including some 80 paintings, 20 sculptures and 300 examples of decorative arts. Visitors will be able to create their own “curatorial remix” of the collection through an interactive project called uCurate, available in the gallery and on the Clark’s website and can then submit them to a gallery that will be featured at clarkart.edu. The Clark’s curatorial team will regularly review the submissions, and will select the best of these for exhibitions that will be presented at the Clark. (Through Jan. 1, 2014)

Dmitri Freund: Emerging Light @ Good Purpose Gallery, Lee. Expressionist works by Russian-American painter Dmitri Freund. Also on display are Nina Evan’s painted glass tables. (Through January 2)

Exquisite Illusion @ The Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield. Paintings by Warner Friedman and assemblages by Michael Zelehoski, curated by Van Shields, Berkshire Museum’s executive director. Zelehoski reconstructs three-dimensional found wooden objects, like crates and pallets, into two-dimensional picture planes, while Friedman’s paintings feature spare landscapes framed by unexpected architectural details. (Through January 2)

Radical Transformation @ The Berkshire Musem, Pittsfield. An exhibition of works by two area-based painters, Janet Rickus and Colin Brant, curated by artist and critic, Carol Diehl. Rickus is known for her meticulous still life paintings of fruits and vegetables, while Brant’s subject is lush landscape that often includes vignettes of people at play. (Through January 2)

Love to Love You @ MASS MoCA, North Adams. An exhibition that brings together artists who explore fandom as a unique opportunity for shared social experience and extreme personal obsession, presenting fans not as passive spectators but active participants in culture. Whether making memorabilia, writing fan fiction, or singing karaoke, fans become creators as much as consumers of culture; by looking at the social culture of fandom, this exhibition poses questions about authorship, collectivity, and our place in the hierarchy of cultural production. Participating artists include Mark Bennett, Eric Doeringer, Elissa Goldstone, Jason Lazarus, Eva LeWitt, Patrick McDonough and Jeremy Shaw. (Through January 5)

The Aura of Fiery Inspiration @ Thompson Giroux Gallery, Chatham. Group show featuring John Hampshire, Philip Howie, Tatiana Klacsmann, Jonathan Potts, Gabrielle Senza and Nick Walters. (Through January 5)

The Fluidity of Representation @ Martinez Gallery, Troy. Works by three Capital Region artists: paintings by Gary Masline, art photography by Nancty Noble Gardner and sculpture by Gay Malin. Gallery Open House: Friday, December 13, 5-7:30pm. (Through January 31)

Dinotopia: The Fantastical Art of James Gurney @ Arkell Museum, Canajoharie. The exhibition features Gurney’s original artwork used to illustrate the Dinotopia book series. (Through February 9)

Weather Event @ The New York State Museum, Albany. American painter Charles E. Burchfield’s depictions of the weather south of Lake Erie, where the artist lived for most of his life. Individual weather events are examined through both an artistic and scientific lens. (Through February 23)

Nude @ Sohn Fine Art Gallery, Stockbridge. Photography and mixed media in a broad range of styles by John Atchley, Peggy Braun, John Clarke, Greg Gorman, Eric Korenman, Hildy Kronen, Jack Krove, Mona Mark, Matuschka, Irmari Nacht, Lincoln Russell, Cassandra Sohn and Savannah Spirit. (Through February)

Big and Bold: Contemporary Paintings, Collage, and Sculpture from the Albany Institute’s Collection @ Albany Institute of History & Art. Paintings by Leigh Wen and Susan Stuart, collage by Michael Oatman and sculpture by Sharon Bates are a few of the works selected for the inaugural exhibition of the Institute’s newly renovated Lansing Gallery. (Through March 2)

Jason Middlebrook @ MASS MoCA, North Adams. For the past decade, Jason Middlebrook has been exploring the complex relationship between man and nature in his sculptures, installations, paintings and large-scale drawings. Responding to the unusual scale of MASS MoCA’s gallery, the artist will be working with planks that in some instances reach tree-like heights, while others will retain a human scale. Middlebrook will also debut a new monumental mobile that will function like a fountain within the gallery. Titled Falling Water after Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic Kaufman residence, the work continues the artist’s exploration of manufactured nature while adding a twist to Wright’s notions of living in harmony with the environment. (Through April 7)

Joseph Montgomery: Five Sets Five Reps @ Mass Moca, North Adams. New York-based painter Joseph Montgomery creates compact abstract assemblages (many measuring only 12 x 10 inches) by layering a range of materials — a base vocabulary of sorts — including wood, clay, cardboard, fiberglass, paper, and wire. These elements take on the appearance of painterly gesture, each functioning like a brushstroke. The earliest of these works developed from the artist’s attempts to veil or destroy paintings which he found too earnest or too personal. These rejected works become a support for his subsequent collages and are at times cannibalized as material fragments in newer works. (Through April 7)

Guillaume Leblon @ MASS MoCA, North Adams. This first solo exhibition of Paris-based sculptor Guillaume Leblon’s work in a U.S. museum will feature a selection of works made over the last decade, in addition to two major new projects created for MASS MoCA. While his works refuse a single reading, they often conjure images of the ruin and the passage of time, bringing the present and the past into contact. Leblon can transform everyday components into sculptures that attain a relic-like quality or the aura of a classical statue.. (Through April 7)

Wendell Minor’s America @ Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge. Award-winning illustrator Wendell Minor drew his way through childhood in Aurora, Illinois, inspired by America’s heartland and the richly illustrated magazines that were so much a part of life at the time. Determined to forge a career as an artist, he sold his beloved 1955 Chevy to pursue his studies at the Ringling School of Art and Design in Florida, and moved to New York in 1968, with little more than his portfolio in hand. Since then, his striking visual narratives and elegant designs have appeared on nearly two thousand book covers and more than fifty children’s books. This exhibition celebrates the artist’s four-decade career,with more than 150 artworks gleaned from his expansive visual chronicles, and commentary reflecting on his collaborations with prominent authors, scientists, and historians.. (Through May 26)

The Mystery of the Albany Mummies @ Albany Institute of History and Art. An investigation of two ancient Egyptian mummies and their coffins, one dating from the 21st Dynasty and the other from the Ptolemaic Period, acquired by the Institute in 1909. (Through June 8, 2014)

Anselm Kiefer @ MASS MoCA, North Adams. MASS MoCA opens a 10,000 square-foot building devoted to the art of Anselm Kiefer. The exhibition will include Étroits sont les Vaisseaux (Narrow are the Vessels), an 82-foot long, undulating wave-like sculpture made of cast concrete, exposed rebar, and lead; The Women of the Revolution (Les Femmes de la Revolution) , comprised of more than twenty lead beds with photographs and wall text; Velimir Chlebnikov , a steel pavilion containing 30 paintings dealing with nautical warfare and inspired by the quixotic theories of the Russian mathematical experimentalist Velimir Chlebnikov; and a new, large-format commission created by the artist specifically for the installation at MASS MoCA.