For Immediate Release
April 12, 2004
Contact: Brent Sverdloff 781/259-3628, bsverdloff@decordova.org
Joby DeCoster 781/259-3663, jdecoster@decordova.org
The 2004 DeCordova Annual Exhibition
Joyce and Edward Linde Gallery, Grand Staircase, James and Audrey Foster Galleries, Phyllis and Jerome Lyle Rappaport/Media Space Gallery, Arcade Gallery, Fourth Floor Hallway Gallery
June 12 – September 5, 2004
Opening Reception: Thursday, June 17, 2004, 6 – 9 pm
LINCOLN—Originally titled the Artists/Visions series, the DeCordova Annual has showcased the works of emerging, mid-career, and established artists since 1989. Since its inception, the premise of this exhibition has been to show the work of a small group of contemporary artists from the six New England states, emphasizing the quality and variety of their works rather than any single or overarching theme. This year, the Museum has selected twelve of the best and most innovative artists in the region working in a variety of media including photography, technology and new media, installation, sculpture, drawing, and painting.
The 2004 DeCordova Annual Exhibition explores a wide range of subjects, such as information and technology, everyday materials and objects, nature, and the influence of popular culture. While the Annual is not organized thematically, some conceptual connections emerge and link the works: dynamic relationships between technology and visual memory; the transformation of found objects into fine art; journeys into real and imagined landscapes; and the synthesis of a profusion of visual information generated by popular culture, such as puzzles, cartoons, and food.
For 2004, the following twelve artists from four states have been invited to participate:
Leslie Bostrom (Providence, RI), Painting—Bostrom paints large-scale works (90" x 102") that often relate to her environmental concerns as a birdwatcher and an amateur ornithologist. Her recent "Bird Disaster Series" contains anthropomorphic works in which environmental pollution, fate and death, and bad luck and destiny lead to tragic events and allegories of loss.
Sean Foley (Portland, ME), Painting—Foley paints with the "wondrous and the fantastic" in mind and combines a variety of techniques, stylistic conventions, and historical references to generate compound forms. The resulting images are wildly active abstractions that show the monstrous within the everyday flow of life.
Beth Galston (Somerville, MA), Installation—Galston will create a "Luminous Garden Environment" installation work, consisting of LED lights embedded in cast resin seedpods, producing flowerlike forms attached to thin wire stalks and set in wooden platforms. The platforms will create pathways throughout the gallery.
William Hosie (Shelburne Falls, MA), Sculpture/Installation—Made from traditional model-making materials, Hosie's sculptures resemble architectural models that float on plywood platforms and ramps, and also spill onto the gallery floor. These abstract forms are sometimes physically connected to one another, while others suggest connections and engagements in relation to their siting.
Henry Kaufman (Cambridge, MA), New Media Installation—An interactive fiberglass screen-based installation, "The Memory of Your Touch" allows visitors to leave behind ghostly impressions of their touch that transform into images made of colored light.
Brian Knep (Boston, MA), New Media Installation—Visitors are invited to walk on and touch a "dynamic carpet," in turn leaving behind imprints or disruptive patterns that are "memories" of their interaction with the work. The colors and organic patterns are variable and dependent on the touch and movement of the visitors.
Mary Lang (Newton, MA), Color Photography—Lang's images are from nature and often contain reflections of trees, sky, or clouds in bodies of water. Several inverted diptychs intimate the artist's Buddhist practice in their contemplative style.
Sandy Litchfield (Amherst, MA), Drawing/Painting/Installation—All of Litchfield's works are inspired by long nature hikes/walks she takes, as well as by Japanese and Chinese landscape paintings and drawings, and geological maps.
Toru Nakanishi (Somerville, MA), Digital Photography—This artist's series "Ration for the Generation" features various abstract images of ramen noodles, exploring ideas relating to Japanese pop culture, ethnicity, immigration, and "the cult of the noodle" in Japan.
Gil Scullion (Middletown, CT), Installation—A set of seven paintings on large acrylic sheets framed with perforated steel angle irons depict war and our participation in world events, concepts related to presence/absence, and methods of reproduction related to found images and text.
Al Souza (Wendell, MA), Painting/Collage—Souza's monumental collages address issues relating to collecting, taxonomy, and visual overload achieved through riotous layers of images and jigsaw puzzles.
Sandy Winters (Mt. Washington, MA), Drawing/Installation—By creating a large wall installation of abstract images that reference both machines and natural forms such as internal organs and body parts, Winters illuminates the cycle of creation/destruction as a battle for control between nature and "culture."
The 2004 Annual is organized by Director of Curatorial Affairs Rachel Rosenfield Lafo, Curator Nick Capasso, Curator of New Media George Fifield, and Curatorial Fellow Alexandra Novina.
General Information
DeCordova Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm and on selected Monday holidays. Admission is $6 per person, $4 for senior citizens, students, and youth ages 6-12. Children age 5 and under, Lincoln residents, and Active Duty Military Personnel and their dependents are admitted free. The Sculpture Park is open year round during daylight hours and is free. The Store @ DeCordova and the School Gallery are open Monday through Thursday, 9:30 am to 7:30 pm, Friday through Saturday, 9:30 am to 5:30 pm, and Sunday 11:30 am to 5:30 pm. The Café @ DeCordova is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 am to 3 pm. Free guided public tours of the Museum's main galleries take place every Thursday at 1 and Sunday at 2 pm. Free tours of the Sculpture Park are given on Saturday and Sunday at 1 pm from May to October. Visit www.decordova.org or call 781/259-8355 for further information.
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