Muroff Kotler Visual Arts Gallery
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Muroff Kotler Visual Arts Gallery
11 am - 3 pm, and by appointment. Closed on College holidays and during intersessions. For more information, contact: Susan Jeffers, Gallery Coordinator, (845) 687-5113, or email: jefferss@sunyulster.edu. |
The Muroff Kotler Visual Arts Gallery at SUNY Ulster is located on the Stone Ridge campus in Vanderlyn Hall, Room 265. The gallery serves as a center for creative artistic activity at the College and for the outside community. It also functions as an environment for teaching, performing, and exhibiting.
The College's permanent art collection enriches the cultural climate on campus by making additional works of a high level of artistic achievement available to students and the community. In this manner, the collection serves as a permanent visual reference source. The College believes that the acquisition of art works and the presentation of different art exhibitions assist the College community in setting standards for judgment and perception.
~ GALLERY NEWS ~
WATER
Essential, sensual, deep, wet, political,
powerful, destructive, metaphorical…
Regional Juried Exhibition
Juried by Portia Munson
WATER: Possibly our most valuable & precious natural resource, it is a source of life, death, pleasure, and profit.
It is a vital fluid, an elusive element, beautiful to touch, look at and drink.
We invite regional artists to submit artwork inspired, created, or conceptually driven by the multifaceted and timely subject of water…
Eligibility
Artists 18 and older working within the Mid-Hudson Valley region (Ulster, Dutchess, Columbia, Greene, Orange and Sullivan counties).
Media Size and Limitations
All media accepted. 2-D not to exceed 5 x 5 feet, sculpture not to exceed 75lbs. or 72” in height. All work must be delivered in ready-to-hang condition and may be rejected if installation preparation is deemed inadequate. Any special installation needs are the responsibility of the artist. Technology options are available but limited and may need to be provided by the artist. The college reserves the right to reject work it deems unsuitable, too fragile to handle, or inconsistent with submitted entry material.
Calendar
Submission Deadline: January 18, 2012
Judgement of works: January 23 - 27
Notification by Email: January 30 - February 3
Delivery of work: Friday, February 24, 10 am - 4 pm and
Saturday, February 25, 10 am - 12 noon
Pick up of work: Saturday, April 14, 10 am - 12 noon and
Monday, April 16, 10 am - 4 pm
Show Dates
March 9 - April 13, 2012, Opening reception March 9, 6 - 8 pm.
Gallery will be closed March 12 - 16 for spring recess
To Enter
Submit up to 5 JPEG (appx. 5x7 at 300 ppi) images on a CD with completed entry form. Include SASE if you would like your
submission materials returned. Please number each image file to correspond with entry form.
Mail to Suzy Jeffers, SUNY Ulster, PO Box 557, Stone Ridge, NY 12484.
Delivery and Pickup
All artwork must be received by February 25. Hand deliveries accepted Friday, February 24 between the hours of 10 am - 4 pm
and Saturday, February 25 between 10 am - 12 noon. All work must arrive framed (if appropriate) and READY TO HANG with
proper wiring, etc. Pick up dates Saturday, April 14 between 10 am - 12 noon & Monday, April 16 between 10 am - 4 pm.
Liability and Insurance
Shipping and Insurance of work while in transit is the responsibility of the artist. Artwork is insured by the college while on campus.
Contact Information
Suzy Jeffers, Gallery Coordinator,
Vanderlyn Hall, Room 266,
845-687-5113,
jefferss@sunyulster.edu
To download the ENTRY FORM, click here.
Juror
Portia Munson is a painter, photographer, and installation artist known for “Pink Projects,” made up of thousands of pink plastic objects, which explores “the marketing of femininity”. Munson is also known for her large fl ower prints, scanned configurations of flowers collected from her garden. The fresh flowers natural color and circular form inspire the images, creating mandalas that in Eastern religions represent the universe.
A resident of Greene County, Munson earned a bachelor of fi ne arts degree from Cooper Union in New York City and a master of fine arts from Rutgers University in New Jersey. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, and she has been awarded numerous fellowships and residencies. She is represented by PPOW in Chelsea, NYC.
(See below for the Current and Upcoming Exhibits.)
~ CURRENT EXHIBIT ~
The Gallery is CLOSED for Winter Break
and will REOPEN on January 26, 2012 with:
WENDY HOLLENDER
BOTANICAL EDIBLES…WILD AND CULTIVATED
Opening reception: Thursday, January 26, 7:00 p.m.
Larry Berk Artist-in-Residence Wendy Hollender opens her residency with a
lecture and slide presentation in Burroughs 120 at 7:00 pm, followed by the reception in the Gallery.
Special Musical Guests: Jay Ungar and Molly Mason at 8:30 pm.
For more about this Artist-in-Residence, click here.
~ UPCOMING EXHIBITS ~
GALLERY SCHEDULE SPRING 2012
January 26 – February 17, 2012
BOTANICAL EDIBLES…WILD AND CULTIVATED
Opening reception: Thursday, January 26, 7:00 p.m.
Larry Berk Artist-in-Residence Wendy Hollender opens her residency with a lecture and slide presentation.
March 9 – April 20, 2012
Regional Juried Show – WATER
Juried by Portia Munson
Opening Reception Friday March 9, 6- 8pm
May 2 – 16, 2012
Student Works 2012
Opening Reception Wed. May 2, 1 – 2pm
May 24 – June 8, 2012
Future Voices 2012
Opening Reception May 24, 5 – 7pm
~ PAST EXHIBITS ~
FACULTY WORKS '11
December 2 – 16, 2011
Faculty Works :
Variations on a Theme : RESIDUE
Opening reception Friday Dec. 2, 5-7 pm
FACULTY WORKS:
VARIATIONS ON A THEME:
RESIDUE
EXHIBITORS INCLUDE:
Josephine Bloodgood
Frank Boyer
Kristin Flynn
Suzy Jeffers
Iain Machell
Sean Nixon
Dina Pearlman
Chris Seubert
Pablo Shine
Liz Unterman
Photo by Sue Jeffers
PRESS RELEASES
SUNY Ulster Highlights Faculty Artwork in “Residue” Exhibit .. FacultyWorks ’11 “Variations on a Theme: Residue” Opens Dec. 2 at Muroff Kotler Arts Gallery ... SUNY Ulster’s biannual exhibition that features works by teaching faculty in the Department of Visual Arts and Design will this year focus on one topic selected by the participants: RESIDUE.
Opening Dec. 2, 2011 with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m., FacultyWorks ’11 will run through Dec. 16 at the Muroff Kotler Arts Gallery on the Stone Ridge campus.
Suzy Jeffers, EXPOSED, Achival Pigment print.
The show will feature a variety of conceptual and material approaches to the topic, including explorations into visual, material and emotional residue; the residue of domestic ritual and the passage of time. FacultyWorks ’11 will feature new works developed on the theme by teachers in SUNY Ulster’s Department of Visual Arts and Design, including Josephine Bloodgood, Frank Boyer, Kristin Flynn, Suzy Jeffers, Barbara Kerner, Iain Machell, Phil Mansfield, Sean Nixon, Dina Pearlman, Chris Seubert, Pablo Shine and Liz Unterman.
Iain Machell, River Bed 1/9’ x 5’/2011, Charcoal, ink, conte, graphite on paper.
“This theme has generated a lot of excitement as there is so much potential for individuals to work in unanticipated ways,” said Suzy Jeffers, Art Gallery Coordinator. “I’m looking forward to many surprises.”
The exhibit is free and open to the public. The gallery is open Mondays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and by appointment. It is closed on college holidays. For more information, call (845) 687-5113.
LINDA MONTANO
Visiting Artist
October 13 – November 11
Lecture/Performance and Opening Reception
Thursday, October 13
7:00 p.m. Student Lounge, Vanderlyn Hall
Linda Montano has been selected as the Visiting Artist at SUNY Ulster for the 2011 fall semester.
VISITING ARTIST LINDA MONTANO
“From Chakras to Glands”
October 13 – November 11
Lecture/Performance and Opening Reception
Thursday, October 13
7:00 p.m. Student Lounge, Vanderlyn Hall
Note: Montano requests that everyone attending dress in one rainbow color and be prepared to celebrate your glands!
Veteran performance artist Linda Mary Montano of Saugerties will grace the SUNY Ulster community with an exhibition, conversation and performance. Well known for her collaboration with Tehching Hsieh whereby the artists were bound together by a length of rope for an entire year, Montano has lived her life as an artist and spiritual seeker of extraordinary commitment and discipline. She has taught and explored her joys, sorrows, secrets and her philosophy of making art of everyday life through countless performances, videos and books.
Linda Montano Chained to Tehching Hsieh
Living her life as an artist and spiritual seeker of commitment and discipline, Montano has taught and explored her philosophy of making art of everyday life through her countless performances, videos and books.
Bilinda by Linda Montano
LINDA MONTANO LINKS
Visit the following websites for more information about Linda Montano
Videos
Linda Montano at MFAIA Goddard College Port Townsend
Linda Mary Montano as Bob Dylan
Linda Mary Montano as Mother Teresa
PRESS RELEASES
Linda Mary Montano Brings Diverse Talents to SUNY Ulster as Visiting Artist ... Performance artist Linda Mary Montano of Saugerties will present an art exhibition, interactive non/lecture and live action as SUNY Ulster’s visiting artist this semester.
The exhibit, “From Charkas to Glands,” will open with a non/lecture performance at the Vanderlyn Hall Student Lounge (Room 205) on Oct. 13, 2011 at 7 p.m. A reception in the gallery will immediately follow. The exhibit will run through Nov. 11 at the Muroff Kotler Visual Arts Gallery in Rm. 265 Vanderlyn Hall on the Stone Ridge campus.
Montano has lived her life as an artist and spiritual seeker of extraordinary commitment and discipline. She has taught and explored her joys, sorrows, secrets and her philosophy of making art of everyday life through countless performances, videos and books.
A seminal figure in contemporary performance art, her work since the 1960s has been critical in the development of video about personal autobiography. Montano uses shared experience, role adoption and intricate life-altering ceremonies, some of which last for seven or more years. Her artwork is focused on personal and spiritual transformation and has been featured at museums, including The New Museum in New York, MOCA in San Francisco and ICA in London.
Montano spent 14 years physically exploring the seven chakras of the body based on Hindu theology. As part of the exploration, she wore the same color of clothing for an entire year and performed disciplines to access states of heightened presence. In the 1990’s Montano returned to her childhood faith of Roman Catholicism. Her focus shifted from Charkras to Glands and she states “not everyone acknowledges the existence of chakras but everyone knows they have glands.”
Participants at the non/lecture are invited to wear one rainbow color. The non/lecture and exhibit is free and open to the public. The gallery is open Mondays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and by appointment. It is closed on college holidays. For more information, call (845) 687-5113 and click here.
NORA CRAIN & RICHARD CARRAZZINI
September 9 – 30, 2011
Just Friends:
Drawings by Nora Crain; Paintings by Richard Carrazzini
Opening Reception: Friday September 9, 2011
5:00 - 7:00 pm
Lucia Is a Dancer by Richard Carrazzini
Carrazzini’s narrative paintings are peopled with figures from the past and present; his stories told in characters who roam through his life and psyche, bound together in loneliness, frustration, despair, love, joy, and humor. – Nora Crain
Untitled by Nora Crain
Crain’s huge, stormy, inner-directed drawings - culled from external forces - are so intensely realized that one cannot but be awed by their ability to seize you and alter your perception of what charcoal-to-paper can do. – Rich Carrazzini
REVIEWS
Cavernous landscapes, carnival characters
Exhibit of artworks by Nora Crain & Richard Carrazzini opens at UCCC in Stone Ridge.
by Lynn Woods, Hudson Valley Times
September 03, 2011
Nora Crain and Rich Carrazzini
Photo by Bob Schuler
Nora Crain and Richard Corozine have known each other for 40 years, dating back to when both were living in New York City and making and exhibiting their art. Crain, who made a living as a graphic designer and taught at the Brooklyn Museum’s art school – she now resides in High Falls – showed her pastels, drawings and paintings at venues in the East Village and other happening areas of the City. Corozine, who currently lives in New Paltz, showed his paintings at galleries on 57th Street.
Suzy Jeffers, coordinator of the Muroff/Kotler Visual Arts Gallery at SUNY-Ulster, has brought the two artists together in a show of their work titled “Just Friends,” after the recent memoir by Patti Smith that chronicled her early years in the City with Robert Mapplethorpe. Crain and Corozine go back almost as far, and their creative synergy makes for a sizzling show. It opens this Friday, September 9 with an opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m., and closes September 30.
The years have done nothing to blunt the creative edge of these two. Corozine, who is showing his work under the name Carrazzini – he explained that the moniker is probably closer to his family’s original name, before it got homogenized by an ignorant immigration official at Ellis Island – describes Crain’s monumental charcoal drawings as “huge, stormy, inner-directed,” with the power “to seize you and alter your perception of what charcoal-to-paper can do.” Indeed, these drawings, some of which measure seven-by-seven feet, immerse the viewer in an inner space populated by unidentifiable forces and beings vividly depicted in stark black-and-white. Their cavernous landscapes are infused with mystery, suggesting narratives related to origins yet also hinting at millennial timespans.
Crain said that she’s inspired by natural forms, especially “weathered or very dried-out” fragments that she picks up on the beach or from the forest floor, which are “on the way to becoming something else.” One piece is specifically linked to the twisted, massively rooted trees that she observed on a trip to Costa Rica, while another evolved from a newspaper photograph of a hanging bat.
Crain describes Carrazzini’s narrative paintings as peopled with “characters who roam through his life and psyche, bound together in loneliness, frustration, despair, love, joy and humor.” Many of these four-by-six-foot canvases depict outcasts: people from the street or circus whom Corozine encountered and photographed over the years. One piece is titled Jeannie the Half-Woman and Al the Giant with Spot the Dog, evoking his infectious combination of the weird and grotesque with the endearingly childlike. Corozine himself appears in a work that’s a takeoff on Manet’s Olympia, which reverses its racial assumptions: “I’m serving watermelon to a naked black woman, with a house burning in the background.”
Another painting depicts his daughter Lucia dancing, in which a lot is happening: She is bouncing a small ball while a bluebird perches on her outstretched hand and a black-and-tan dog cavorts in the background. The figures are framed by the curve of a round, green Earth, with a house and two trees punctuating its edge. The white shadows of the dog and girl are echoed by the foliage of the trees: ghostlike elements that anchor the floating figures to the revolving world, pinning down the elusiveness of time. One is reminded of Chagall’s folk narratives, Picasso’s harlequins, Matisse’s paintings and cutouts of the dance and Larry Rivers’ work; but in the end the style, which deploys cardboard cutouts, is Corozine’s own.
Corozine said that since 1990 he was mainly focused on writing plays and hadn’t done any painting at all for six years before getting into it again recently. “I’ve started slowly rebuilding my painting world,” he said. “I paint better; I’ve had a lot of time to mull over what I’m doing. I always tell people that my plays are paintings that talk. If you see my plays, they’re like the people in my paintings.”
The Muroff Kotler Visual Arts Gallery in Stone Ridge’s SUNY-Ulster is open Monday-Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, call (845) 687-5113.
GARY TINTEROW
GUEST LECTURE: GARY TINTEROW
September 19, 2011
11:00 am in the Student Lounge
Metropolitan Museum Curator Lectures at SUNY Ulster ... Distinguished curator and scholar Gary Tinterow will give a lecture on The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection of modern and contemporary art and the museum’s evolving attitude about its permanent display on September 19 at SUNY Ulster in the Student Lounge in Vanderlyn Hall. Tinterow will speak at 11:00 a.m. on the “History of the Metropolitan Museum’s Collection and Presentation of Modern Art from 1870 to the Present,” looking at the great collections of art housed at the museum by artists since its inception.
Gary Tinterow
A part-time Stone Ridge resident, Tinterow is Engelhard Chairman of 19th Century, Modern and Contemporary Art at the Metropolitan Museum and regarded as one of the most active curators in the U.S. He has been curator at the museum since 1983 and has organized some of the Metropolitan’s best-known and most popular exhibitions.
The event is free and open to the public. For information, call (845) 687-5262.
FUTURE VOICES
May 26 – June 11, 2011
Future Voices
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 26 – 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
High School Art from Ulster County
PRESS RELEASES |
Local High School Students Exhibit Works at SUNY Ulster Gallery ... Ulster County high school students will exhibit their art work at “Future Voices V” opening this month at SUNY Ulster, at the Muroff Kotler Visual Arts Gallery, on the Stone Ridge campus.
The Muroff Kotler Visual Arts Gallery is open Mondays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and by appointment. It is closed on college holidays. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call (845) 687-5113. |
STUDENT WORKS 2011
May 4 – May 18
Opening Reception: May 4, 2011
The opening reception will be held May 4, 1 to 2 p.m., at the gallery and in Vanderlyn Hall classrooms and hallways where student art and design majors will “strut their stuff.”
Refreshments also will be served.
Hat by Amanda Bankowsky
PRESS RELEASES
SUNY Ulster Student Art Works Opens at Muroff Kotler Visual Arts on May 4 ... The artistic talents of SUNY Ulster’s Visual Arts students will be showcased at the “Student Works 2011” exhibit May 4-18 at the college’s Muroff Kotler Visual Arts Gallery.
Apple photo by SUNY Ulster student Kaitlyn Newkirk of Saugerties.
An opening reception will be held May 4, 1 to 2 p.m., at the gallery and in Vanderlyn Hall classrooms and hallways where student art and design majors will “strut their stuff.” Refreshments also will be served.
The large and diverse exhibit will feature the works of all art students and include graphic design, photography, painting, life drawing, drawing and composition, fashion design, and two- and three- dimensional design. Among the projects created by the students will be texture studies utilizing every-day objects, still life and figure studies, clothing made of wire based on the element of line, posters created for the college’s diversity day and more.
The exhibit is free and open to the public. The Muroff Kotler Visual Arts Gallery is located in Vanderlyn Hall on the Student Ridge campus. Hours are Mondays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and by appointment. It is closed on college holidays. The event is free and open to the public.
For more information, call (845) 687-5113.
DEVORAH SPERBER
March 17- April 15, 2011
Visiting Artist
DEVORAH SPERBER
Opening Reception and Slide show lecture
Thursday, March 17
7:00 p.m., Student Lounge, Vanderlyn Hall
For more information, click here.
VISITING ARTIST DEVORAH SPERBER
March 17- April 15
Opening Reception and Slide Lecture
Thursday, March 17, 2011
7:00 p.m., Vanderlyn Hall, Student Lounge
Exhibition on View
March 17 – April 15, 2011
Muroff Kotler Visual Arts Gallery
Vanderlyn Hall, Stone Ridge Campus
Devorah Sperber
Devorah Sperber was born in 1961 and raised in Detroit, Michigan and Denver, Colorado. From 1979 to 1981, she attended the Art Institute of Colorado, Denver, and in 1987, she received her BA from Regis University, Colorado. She has had numerous exhibitions including Mass MoCA, (2008), and a one-person exhibition, The Eye of the Artist: The Work of Devorah Sperber, at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York (2007).
An Installation of Work by Devorah Sperber
Artist’s Statement
"My current body of work consists of sculptures assembled from thousands of ordinary objects - spools of thread, marker and pen caps, flower-power stickers, map tacks, chenille stems (a.k.a. pipe cleaners), faceted beads, and Swarovski crystals. The imagery is derived from digital photographs that I manipulate and translate into "low-tech" pixels.
While many contemporary artists employ digital technology to create high-tech works, I strive to "dumb-down" technology by using mundane materials and low-tech, labor-intensive assembly processes. I place equal importance on the recognizable image as a whole and on how individual parts function as abstract elements. Therefore, I select materials based on their aesthetic and functional characteristics as well as their capacity for an interesting and often contrasting relationship with the subject matter.
The thread-spool works are often installed so that viewers first perceive the spools of thread as a random arrangement of colorful cylinders. It is only after the spools are viewed through an optical device, such as a clear acrylic sphere or convex mirror that the recognizable image emerges. The viewing spheres (or convex mirrors) shrink or condense the thread spool "pixels" into recognizable images while also rotating the representation 180 degrees. This shift in perception functions as a mechanism to present the idea that there is no one truth or reality, thus emphasizing subjective reality over an absolute truth." - from the Museum of Arts and Design website.
Mona Lisa by Devorah Sperber
PRESS RELEASES & REVIEWS
(Mar. 7, 2011)
“Gone To the Dogs” Thread Spool Works Exhibit by SUNY Ulster Visiting Artist Devorah Sperber Opens at Muroff Kotler Arts Gallery Mar. 17
As SUNY Ulster’s Visiting Artist, Woodstock/NYC-based visual artist Devorah Sperber will make you look and think twice with her thread spool installations that will be exhibited at the Muroff Kotler Arts Gallery from March 17 through April 15.
“Devorah Sperber: Gone to the Dogs,” will open at the college’s Muroff Kotler Arts Gallery on March 17 with an opening reception and slide show lecture at 7 p.m., at the Vanderlyn Hall Student Lounge. It is free and open to the public.
When viewed directly, Sperber’s thread spool works look like colorful abstractions. However, when you look through a clear acrylic sphere positioned in front of each work, recognizable images emerge. The images – ranging from Mona Lisa TO Superman – are made from hundreds or thousands of ordinary spools of colored threads that represent pixels.
Work by Devorah Sperber
Sperber deconstructs familiar images to address the way the brain processes visual information versus the way people think we see. “As a visual artist,” she says, “I cannot think of a topic more stimulating and yet so basic than the act of seeing -- how the human brain makes sense of the visual world.”
At SUNY Ulster, the artist will show seven of her signature thread spool installations from 2009-2011 and a new work from her upcoming series that explores the subjective nature of time passage. The inspiration for the works in “Devorah Sperber: Gone to the Dogs” evolved from Sperber’s passion for dogs, dog training and the sport of canine agility.
Since 1999, Sperber has been working on large-scale installations and multi-part works that use pixilated, photo-based representation in formats that fluctuate between representation and abstraction. Sperber has an extensive national and international exhibition record, including solo shows at both the Brooklyn Museum and Mass MOCA in 2007-08. She was awarded a New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) fellowship in sculpture in 2005.
The gallery is open Mondays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and by appointment. It is closed on college holidays. For more information, call (845) 687-5113.
DRAWN TO HUMANITY
January 26 - February 25, 2011
DRAWN TO HUMANITY:
American and European Masterworks on Paper
from the Ken Ratner Collection
Ratner has generously offered SUNY Ulster a long-term loan of 30 works by mostly European artists dating from 1890-1930. The works include lithographs, etchings, drawings and pastels.
“Drawn to Humanity” Exhibit Opens at SUNY Ulster’s Muroff Kotler Visual Arts Gallery .. Art Collector Ken Ratner Shares American and European Masterworks on Paper ... Masterworks on paper from European and American artists collected by New York City collector Ken Ratner will be on long-term loan to the permanent art collection at SUNY Ulster. An exhibition of the works will open on Jan. 26 in the Muroff Kotler Visual Arts Gallery and run through Feb. 25.
“Drawn to Humanity: American and European Masterworks on Paper from the Ken Ratner Collection” will feature 30 works by artists from the late 19th and early 20th Century and include lithographs, etchings, drawings and pastels. The works on loan to the college are mostly by European artists dating from 1890 to 1930.
For more than 20 years, Ratner has been collecting works on paper with a humanistic and democratic message exemplified by American artists of the 20th Century Ashcan School and European masters with similar themes. Ratner was drawn to artists who he said “challenged the norm” and “sought their own vital expression.”
In forming the collection, Ratner said he purchased more reasonably priced prints instead of paintings because they “show the artist’s thought process and pure draftsmanship” and represent a “democratic form of expression.”
“We are grateful to Mr. Ratner for his generous donation and look forward to sharing these fine works with campus and community,” said Suzy Jeffers, gallery coordinator.
The opening reception will be held on January 26 from 1 to 2 p.m., at the gallery in Vanderlyn Hall on the Stone Ridge campus. The gallery is open Mondays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and by appointment. It is closed on college holidays. The exhibit is free and open to the public. For more information, call (845) 687-5113.
PRESS RELEASES & REVIEWS
(From Hudson Valley Times, Jan. 27, 2011)
The Prints and the Paupers
Exhibition from collection of Ken Ratner opens at SUNY-Ulster in Stone Ridge
by Paul Smart
Hudson Valley Times
There are collectors who amass art for their homes, collectors who aim at museum longevity and collectors who like the hubbub of collecting. Then there are those, like New Yorker Ken Ratner, who collect out of a keen fascination with a period of art, then champion it via deep studies, the curating of shows and the lending of their collections to teaching institutions as a means of reinvigorating study and appreciation of the sort of art that they’ve collected. Starting this week, with an opening reception to be attended by the collector on Wednesday, January 26, the Muroff-Kotler Gallery at SUNY-Ulster will be presenting “Drawn to Humanity,” an exhibit of 30 American and European masterworks on paper that Ratner is making available to the permanent art collection at the community college on long-term loan for the coming month. Some of Ratner’s works showed at the Dorsky Museum at SUNY-New Paltz a few years ago as well.
Ratner has been collecting works on paper from the late 19th and early 20th century, including lithographs, etchings, drawings and pastels, with what he describes as a humanistic and democratic message. He has said that he’s drawn to artists who “challenged the norm” and “sought their own vital expression,” and has lectured on America’s Ashcan School and early stabs at Social Realism as examples of what draws him.
“Drawn to Humanity: American and European Masterworks on Paper from the Ken Ratner Collection” at the Muroff-Kotler will feature 30 works, mostly by European artists, dating from 1890 to 1930. The Muroff-Kotler Gallery at SUNY-Ulster is open Mondays through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., as well as by appointment. For more information, call (845) 687-5113 or visit www.sunyulster.edu.
To view the Gallery Archives of other past exhibitions, click here.
The Gallery's Art Series regularly presents changing exhibitions of original source materials that reflect the varied art forms and trends of both the past and the present. For current exhibition or performance schedules, please consult the Calendar of Events, or you may contact the gallery by phone at 800: 724-0833, extension 5113 or 5066, or 845: 687-5113 or 5066.
