Picture this: New places on LI to view art
Paul Rubery is the curator at the Vanderbilt Museum in Centerport, where the exhibit "Related Searches" runs through June 30. Credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes," Marcel Proust wrote, "but in having new eyes." But we all know that new places don't hurt. Art lovers on Long Island have more choices than ever, as new venues have been opening all over. Check protocols, then plan a trek, discover a new favorite gallery or museum, and see world-class art close to home.
Married artists Eric Fischel and April Gornik opened the art center The Church in Sag Harbor last year. Credit: Gordon M. Grant
GET THEE TO THE CHURCH ON TIME
Respecting the old, embracing the new, welcoming more voices, and invigorating the conversation were some of the reasons that married artists Eric Fischl and April Gornik spent significant time, money and effort founding Sag Harbor's new arts center, The Church, which opened last year.
The free exhibition space is filled with works by renowned international artists as well as local talents, gathered around familiar, topical, but apolitical themes like cars, water and, in the "Threading the Needle" which opens July 1, how artists use fiber and fabric to express complex concepts.
The idea is to keep art fun and to encourage creativity, said Fischl, and, at the same time to counteract a divisive, split-screen society by bringing people together. "The central purpose of art in a culture," he said, "is to be central to it — to be part of the language, to be part of community building, to be the articulation of our narratives, our dreams, our hopes and fears."
WHAT "Threading the Needle"
WHEN | WHERE July 1-Sept. 18, 12-5 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday, The Church, 48 Madison St., Sag Harbor
INFO Free; 631-919-5342, thechurchsagharbor.org
WHAT "Related Searches"
WHEN | WHERE Through June 30, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday, Vanderbilt Museum & Planetarium, 180 Little Neck Rd., Centerport
INFO $10, $9 seniors and students (with ID), $7 ages 2-11; 631-854-5579, vanderbiltmuseum.org
WHAT Vik Muniz (July 9), Sanford Biggers (July 16 – Aug. 13), Anselm Kiefer and Melvin Edwards (through October)
WHEN | WHERE Timed, ticketed entry, 1:30-5:45 p.m. Thursday-Friday and 11:30 a.m.- 5:45 p.m., Saturday, Peter Marino Art Foundation, 11 Jobs Lane, Southampton
INFO $20 (children under 10 not permitted); petermarinoartfoundation.org
With talks, concerts, artists' residencies, workshops, and more planned, the couple hopes to both welcome people to The Church and, at the same time, keep Sag Harbor anchored in creativity. "The town has always been a maker community, whether it was making ships or lunar lander parts, or making watches or silverware, it's always been connected to making something," noted Fischl. "This is about trying to find things that connect us rather than separate us," he said.
Access to the arts is important, said Gornik, because "It's a chance for people to look at something in a neutral space that can lead to positive civil discourse in a way that, hopefully, can also astonish, inspire and uplift people. Art has so much potential for being a kind of spiritual experience and a binding experience for people."
The "Lobster Lamp" by Christopher Tennant at the Vanderbilt consists of a vintage Japanese parasol, a lobster exoskeleton, backyard bamboo and other objects. Credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas
VANDERBILT IS BUILT FOR ART
Not new, but new to showing contemporary art, the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum in Centerport debuted a new exhibition program in April with "Related Searches," a selection of works by artist Christopher Tennant. They're in harmonious dialogue with the museum's focus on natural history, as Tennant creates dioramas and tableaux with antique taxidermy mixed with everyday objects.
Look for funky, whimsical, creations like horseshoe crabs and lobsters turned into lamps, reminiscent of Salvador Dali's surrealist "Lobster Telephone," but with a deeper and darker core. They're about what might be lost.
"Preserving Eagle's Nest" follows from July through November, presenting an installation of objects from the Vanderbilt estate. In future months, outdoor art will pop up across the grounds, and there will be a site-specific science-based installation in the planetarium.
The Peter Marino Art Foundation in Southampton opened last June. Credit: Jason Schmidt
ART HANGING IN THE HAMPTONS
The Peter Marino Art Foundation in Southampton opened last June, but has just kicked its exhibition program into high gear, with shows featuring Anselm Kiefer, Melvin Edwards, Vik Muniz, Sanford Biggers, Jean Michel Othoniel and Johan Creten all lined up this season. Their works, along with ancient through contemporary art from Peter Marino's collection, fill the beloved old Rogers Memorial Library, newly refurbished by Marino during the pandemic.
"It’s always so great to see everyone’s reaction once they enter the completely renovated space," said Catherine Philbin, director of special projects. "To be honest, visitors are pretty much gobsmacked."
Along with top-tier artists from around the world and a permanent collection which spans from Egyptian, Roman and Greek antiquities to works by iconic Old Masters and contemporary iconoclasts, artist and author talks will be presented.
One door down, at 25 Jobs Lane, is the Southampton Arts Center. Through July 23, it's showing "Techspressionism" a look at computer generated works, digital photographs, videos, NFTs and the merging of coding and artistic expression. Turn the corner and stroll down Main Street to Hampton Road, and you'll find Phillips Southampton. It's one of three legendary auction houses, the kind that regularly sell masterpieces, that have all recently established outposts out East. Christie's is also now in Southampton, at 1 Pond Lane, and you'll find Sotheby's at 66 Newtown Lane in East Hampton. All have exquisite art on view through the summer.
