WPCNR ART NEWS. From Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art. September 23, 2005: The weekend of Saturday, September 24 and Sunday, September 25, the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art (HVCCA) launches its second annual citywide exhibition of cutting edge contemporary art by national and international artists. The event will run weekends from September 24 through October 16, from 12-6pm, and will feature roughly 60 artworks by 80 artists, including painters, sculptors, photographers, video artists, installation and performance artists, and artists who defy categorization. A celebration bash and artists’ reception will take place from 5:00-8:00 PM on Sunday September 25, at the HVCCA 1701 Main Street, Peekskill, New York. While the Center’s staff, artists, curators, and members of the community toast the enormity of the event the real celebration takes place literally on the streets of Peekskill.
Underground Railroad and Yellow Brick Road featured.
“The overwhelming response from the community, its business owners, residents and their children, not to mention the tremendous number of visitors drawn to the first Peekskill Project, speaks to the power of provocative works that are woven into the fabric of this town as well as those dynamic works that invite community participation,” observes Livia Straus, President and co-founder of the HVCCA.
Launched with the goal of bringing contemporary art out of the museum and into the community, Straus believes that what differentiates Peekskill Project 2005 is its ability to stay focused on the works themselves while providing a virtually wide open forum for young, cutting edge artists. Says Sara Pasti, HVCCA’s Executive Director, “A unique aspect of this year’s project, also titled ‘Ghosts of Peekskill,’ is the number of artworks that explore Peekskill’s social, cultural and geographic history.
Among the historical elements highlighted this year are Peekskill’s hidden brook, an Underground Railroad site, and the yellow brick road featured in Frank O. Baum’s ‘Wizard of Oz.’”
This year’s artists/art teams have been nominated by Curatorial Advisors, including the following nationally recognized curators: Nathalie Anglès (Curator, Location One Residency Program Director), Paul Clay (video artist and founding member, Fictive Studios), Susanna Cole (independent curator), Kari Conte (independent curator), Erin Donnelly (Curator, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council), Firefly (members of the Cultural Division of Amnesty International), Alison Levy (Organizer, Peekskill Project: 2004), Carmen Zita (independent curator, ZINC Art Management) and Ricardo Viera (Director of the Lehigh University Art Gallery).
This is also the second year that Project Coordinator Alison Levy has organized an extraordinary event requiring the coordination of dozens of participating venues, including local businesses, galleries, public spaces, factories, the HVCCA’s own backyard, and other sites scattered throughout the city. Artwork will be sited in four distinct locations in Peekskill, including (1) the waterfront, (2) Peekskill’s historic commercial district, (3) Main Street and (4) HVCCA. Artwork will be accessible by public transportation, including a special shuttle bus that will be provided to transport people from the train station, to downtown Peekskill, and to the HVCCA.
“After the first Peekskill Project, many businesses asked whether the artwork could stay up,” said Alison Levy. “They found that the works drew people into their stores and were good for business; we won a lot of public support as well. Like last year’s project, Peekskill Project 2005 will again afford many with the opportunity to learn more about Peekskill’s history, while they and their children can actually work with and learn about a lot of exciting new artists.”
The works are as varied as the emerging artists themselves, who represent nine countries and live and work in New York City and across the US. Many of the artists create work that has not been widely seen in public settings. Artists who are included in Peekskill Project 2005 are: Eric Angles, Eric Arctander, Jo-Ann Brody, Dean Friedman, Kelly Kivland and Stephanie Skaf, Edgar Orlaineta, Eliza Proctor, Micah Silver, Sarah Haviland, Erik Hanson and William Whalen, Pia Lindman, Ana Prvackii, Lise Prown, Gene Panczenko and Marcy Freedman, Luca Stoppini, Laurel Garcia Colvin, Justen Ladda, Robert Thurmer, Heather Mims, Rachel Winborn, Alicia Grullon, Lori Nozick, Union Docks, among many others.
Some of the specific projects that will be part of Peekskill Project 2005 are:
(1) Wheels, a project by Dean Friedman, will feature a customized bicycle parade for local schoolchildren and artists who will be invited to participate in a decorate-your-own bicycle contest that uses the natural kinetic appeal of the bicycle to encourage creativity and artistic experimentation.
(2) The World is My Soul/Sole, by Edgar Orlaineta, is an art “intervention” involving the installation of a number of rubber sandal straps directly to ground, so that the ground and/or floor becomes the sole of the sandals. The piece invites the viewer to think about the places that we inhabit and travel.
(3) Vision Project, by Rick Falco, presents photographic documentation of a ground breaking education program held at Fort Smith, near Peekskill. Vision Projects has focused on the use of photography to build awareness of social issues and human needs. The photographs will be displayed in the windows of the Workman’s Compensation Bureau Bldg in downtown Peekskill.
(4) Sound Installation for Ford Piano, by Micah Silver, will explore the individual and collective resonances of nearly 100 semi-functional pianos that will be activated with an array of loudspeakers featuring sound material from Ford Piano and from surrounding areas within the City of Peekskill.
(5) Effervescence, Subtle Mass Orbs, by Erik Hanson and William Whalen, will consist of four massive helium-filled orbs (meteorological balloons) that will float in triangular geometric formation above a local Main Street factory building. A speaker box playing manipulated white noise will offer an aural experience to complement the viewer’s visual experience.
(6) Rosie Goes Wild, by Ana Pravci, a surface work of 3,300 stickers of life-size rivets, is conceived as a tribute to Rosie Hickey, who was also known as “Rosie the Riveter.” She and her partner drilled 900 holes and placed 3,300 rivets in an airplane tail end within six hours at the former GM Eastern Aircraft plant in nearby North Tarrytown, NY.
(7) Inner Light: Quakers in Peekskill, by Sarah Haviland, is a mixed-media installation referring in part to the history of the Quakers who settled Peekskill and who built two meeting houses for worship in the 1800’s at the two ends of South Street. Open in mind and spirit, the Quaker tradition helped to form this interracial community, and its legacy of conviction remains.
(8) Hold the Line, by Joanne Brody, focuses, through sculptural works, on the memories of the artist as she recalls the turmoil faced by her family during the social and political turmoil that overtook Peekskill in the late 90’s
(10)Downtown Peekskill Walking Tour, conceived by Eric Angles, will present official tourist information of three cities of similar sizes—Peekskill, NY (pop. 24,166); Graneros, Chile (pop. 24,115); and Trou aux Biches, Mauritius (pop. 24,117)—in carefully crafted, weatherproof brochure racks in several selected sites in Peekskill. The juxtaposition of the brochures will cause viewers to think about the ways in which towns and cities, including Peekskill, are presented and marketed to the world.
Nostalgia, an exhibition curated by Carmen Zita for the HVCCA, will feature works by artists Ann Hamilton, Mona Hatoum, Justen Ladda, Julian Laverdiere, Matvey Levenstein, Luca Stoppini, DustinYellin and Kristof Yvore. Special exhibitions of artists’ works are also being featured at Peekskill galleries including Maxwell Fine Arts at 1204 Main Street, Casola Gallery at 927 South Street, and Gallery 25N at 25 North Division Street.
Artists’ performances, video screenings, conversations and panel discussions will take place at the HVCCA and other locations each weekend from Sept 24-Oct 16. The closing celebration to be held on Sunday, October 16, beginning at 3:30pm, will feature a presentation by renowned video artist, Shirin Neshat. Support for the “Ghosts of Peekskill: Peekskill Project 2005” has been provided by Entergy Charitable Foundation, Ginsburg Development LLC, the Peekskill Business Improvement District, The City of Peekskill, The Peekskill Museum, Hudson River Community Health, and numerous other local businesses and organizations that are serving as sponsors for individual artworks.
HVCCA is a not-for-profit institution that opened to the public in June 2004. Founded by the Marc and Livia Straus family, the Center is dedicated to the development and presentation of new art, exhibits and interdisciplinary programs that enrich our understanding of contemporary art, its contexts, and its relationships to societal issues. The Center is committed to the enrichment of Peekskill, a multicultural community that has recreated itself as a major center for art and culture. HVCCA operates a 12,000 square foot exhibition space in Peekskill and is the primary sponsor of the Peekskill Project, an annual, citywide exhibition of site-specific artwork.
