ALBANY — Three new exhibits were recently unveiled at The University at Albany Art Museum.
On the museum’s first floor, a collection of photographic works from 20 different artists, titled “Race, Love and Labor: New Work from the Center for Photography at Woodstock’s Artist-in-Residency Program” is now on display. The exhibit features works from artists of color who have participated in the Center for Photography at Woodstock’s residency program, and includes photographs, artist books and videos hand-picked by guest curator Sarah Lewis, a cultural historian and assistant professor at Harvard University.
On the second floor, paintings and body prints by abstract artist Keltie Ferris are featured, including her largest painting to date. Described by museum curator Corinna Ripps Schaming as “bold and expressive,” “Keltie Ferris: Body Prints and Paintings” includes pieces ranging from solely black or white to an increasingly more colorful. As an artist, Ferris is at times literally embedded into her prints, as she creates them using layered pigments and imprints of her own body.
In the Western gallery on the second floor, selected videos from “Gerard & Kelly: Performance Documents” are being screened in a single-channel format. The curated videos include pieces from Brennan Gerard and Ryan Kelly’s collaborations over the last five years. Their method of presentation not only raises questions about the intimate relationships present in a performance setting, but also the consideration of dance as medium present within museums.
Schaming notes the importance of the relationship between the new exhibits, stating that these three revolve around ideas about identity, the body and movement. Schaming said she hopes to “reach across the campus” and inspire individuals from all different focuses to come experience, appreciate, and learn from these works, noting that one professor at the university has even chosen to use one of the exhibits as a focal point for his teachings this semester.
While welcoming viewers to enjoy these works, Schaming also wants to challenge them, claiming that within these contemporary pieces “there are more questions than there are answers.” Ultimately, these exhibitions can speak to the individual emotionally and allow them to reflect on aspects of race and the formation of identity, and according to Schaming “you don’t need an art degree to appreciate anything that’s here,” she said.
The three exhibits will remain on display to the public for free through Saturday, April 2.
For more information about the University at Albany Arts Museum, call 442-4035 or visit www.albany.edu/museum/index.shtml. The museum, located at UAlbany’s uptown campus at 1400 Washington Avenue, is open Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.