New Exhibit Opens at Plattsburgh State Art Museum Feb. 10

The exhibit of paintings by Hermine Ford and sculptures by John Newman opens to the public Saturday, Feb. 10, beginning at 3 p.m. with a discussion by the artists in Yokum Hall, room 200. An opening reception at the Burke Gallery, Plattsburgh State Art Museum, Myers Fine Arts Building will follow. This special exhibition, which will be on display through April 7, is presented in collaboration with Norte Maar. The discussion and reception are free and open to the everyone.

"In the course of art history, there have been many instances of sculptors and painters, working in similar manners," writes Raphael Rubinstein, senior editor for Art in America, whose text accompanies the exhibition. "Think, for instance, of Medardo Rosso, whose wax and plaster figures display affinities with Impressionist painting or how the colorful crushed-metal sculptures of John Chamberlain resembles the similarly dense, jagged and explosively hued abstractions of Joan Mitchell. The nature of Ford and Newman's affinity is no less concrete but it occurs not in the realm of stylistic resemblance but at the deeper, more purely structural level."

Both artists, originating from New York City, make art informed by technique and embellished by experience.
Moreover, theirs is an art unhindered by fads and fashion.

Ford (b.1939) paints patterns. Combining textiles of cultures, mosaics of the past, she interlaces her compositions with brushwork and drawing inspired by topography, landscape, bends in a river and shapes of stones.  Ford's work can be found in many prominent public collections including Arkansas Arts Center, Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), Hood Museum at Dartmouth (Hanover, N.H.) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City), to name a few.

Newman (b.1952) sculpts metaphors. Mixing metal and stone, paper and glass with a combination of advanced technology and primal techniques, he creates personages that exist as characters acting out the artists' unique dialogue. Newman's work can be found in many prominent public exhibits including Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo, N.Y.), Art Institute of Chicago, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York City), among others.
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Plattsburgh State Art Museum (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) - Expanding upon Andre Malreaux's concept of a Museum Without Walls, the Plattsburgh State Art Museum has become an open visual art resource for the College and the Northern Adirondack/Champlain Valley region. It forms an aesthetic network across the campus which makes the arts part of the fabric of the college and community. Beyond a philosophy, the Museum Without Walls has become the title of the installation program maintained by the Museum, which serves to display art throughout the campus.

The Plattsburgh Art Museum is comprised of more than 10,000 works of art and artifacts in several permanent collections ranging from antiquities to contemporary art. The collections are displayed within its main galleries, a developing sculpture park and exhibition areas throughout campus. The galleries of the Plattsburgh State Art Museum are open daily 12 to 4 p.m., except on holidays. Visit its Web site at: http://clubs.plattsburgh.edu/museum

Norte Maar for Collaborative Projects in the Arts (New York City/Rouses Point /London) creates, promotes and presents collaborations within the disciplines of visual, literary, and the performing arts, connecting visual artists, choreographers, composers, writers and other originating artists with venues and each other.
     
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