ArtBeat: What To See

---

Bolton Brown: Strength and Solitude @ Byrdcliffe Kleinert/James Center for the Arts, Woodstock. This exhibition examines the lithographs and paintings of one of Byrdcliffe’s founders, Bolton Coit Brown, renowned for his expertise in lithography and as a mountaineer. Opening reception January 18, 4-6pm. Gallery talk: Saturday, January 18, 2:30pm. (Through March 2)

Hillary Fayle and Yari Ostovany @ Courthouse Gallery, Lake George. Hillary Fayle creates collages of stitched and embroidered found materials from the natural world. Yari Ostovany’s paintings are records of an intuitive journey; densely layered compositions made over time with numerous layers of thick and thin washes and glazes. Opening Reception: Saturday, January 18, 4-6pm. (Through February 21)

Playing With A Full Deck @ Greene County Council on the Arts, Catskill. In this fundraiser for the Greene County Council on the Arts’ Visual Arts Program, original works will be exhibited along with a limited edition deck of playing cards, designed by a star-studded list of 52 artists with Kiki Smith’s custom design for the card backs. Special events include a poker tournament on Saturday, February 8 at 6pm and an auction of works at the closing party on Saturday, March 1 at 7pm. Also on display: Maria Katzman: Quiet Space, a solo show of plein air oil paintings that chronicles the artist’s six-year residency at the Woodstock Byrdcliffe cabins. Reception: Saturday, January 18, 5-7pm. (Through March 1)

David Greenberger: one updown @ Tang Teaching Museum and Gallery, Saratoga Springs. In a companion exhibition to David Greenberger: One Upon, opening next month, Elevator Music 26 features over 100 short recorded pieces by David Greenberger and a variety of celebrated musical collaborators from the past twenty years. (Through April 13)

International Artists @ Sorelle Gallery, Albany. Paintings by Yvonne Mora, William Rengifo, Ingrid Alvarez and Altino Villisante. (Through January 23)

---

Melange @ Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson. Featured artist Juan Garcia-Nunez works in a multitude of media including painting, film and photography. This show will feature a selection of his paintings spanning two decades. There will be several pieces from his series Crossings, which consists of large paintings on plexi-glass which are used as negatives to make contact prints. The exhibition also features works by David Paulson, Scott Nelson Foster, Jane Bloodgood-Abrams, Vince Pomilio and Harry Orlyk. (Through January 19)

The Human Condition + Communication-Technologies @ The Foundry for Art Design + Culture, Cohoes. As part of the Foundry’s Visiting Artist Series, this exhibit of works by Nancy Daly and Elizabeth Kostojohn explores how human communication has changed in the face of technological change. Artist lecture : Sunday, January 19, 1pm. (Through January 19)

---

Mark Tambella @ John Davis Gallery, Hudson. A solo exhibition of new paintings by Mark Tambella. (Through January 26)

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. (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)

John Stritch: A Reflection @ Whitney Center for the Arts (Facebook). An exhibit of work by legendary local artist John Stritch, a former surgeon who served in World War 2 and met Pablo Picasso during a sojourn in Europe, that features his entire oeuvre including sculpture, mixed media pieces and paintings, some never before publicly shown.

>

Blueprint @ Union College Atrium, Schenectady. The works of Sharon Butler (painting), Peter Dudek (installation) and Victoria Palermo (sculpture) juxtaposed against a guidebook of Simon Mawer’s The Glass Room. Artists’ talk: Thursday, February 20, 3:30pm followed by a reception from 4:30-6pm. (Through February 27)

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)

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 February 28)

George Guarino: It’s Agreeno @ Tierra Coffee Roasters, Albany. George Guarino’s digital triptychs of ink transfers on wood serve as focal points for meditation. Reception: Friday, February 7 (Albany First Friday), 6-8pm. (Through February 28)

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)

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)

On Being: Exploring Psychological and Spiritual Well-Being Through the Creative Process @ Mandeville Gallery, Schenectady. Figurative works by Valerie Hammond, Keun Young Park and Sheila Ross and their visual explorations of well-being through the symbolic use of destruction and reconstruction of form, the incorporation of spiritual iconography and the direct confrontation of mortality. Panel discussion: Tuesday, February 4, 4:30-6:pm. Zen meditation with artist Sheila Ross: Wednesday, February 5, 12:45-1:45pm.(Through March 9)

Kate Hamilton: Big Shoes to Fill @ Thompson Giroux Gallery, Chatham. Works by Kate Hamilton exploring the nature of clothing through design, sculpture and costume. (Through March 9)

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.