Staging Ground

Staging Ground, a group show opened last Friday night, with a crowd of over 150 people. The exhibition will be on view through June 4th. The exhibition features five emerging local artists: Chris Gentile, Denise Kupferschmidt, Christina Leung, Christian Maychack and Jeffrey Tranchell. Each artist’s work documents an intervention or manipulation with plants and landscapes.

Installed on either side of the same wall, Gentile and Maychack represent two different ways of exhibiting plant-based sculptural works. In End Times/Amend Times #1, Gentile chooses to display a photograph of his sculptural creation, a scaffolding structure that has molded a plant into the shape of a reclining figure. Maychack prefers to directly present the product of his experiment in Double Host, a living sculpture that uses magic sculpt, a self-drying epoxy clay, to alter and influence the growth of a Euphorbia tirucalli ( pencil cactus).


Despite photography being their shared medium, neither Kupferschmidt or Leung consider themselves as photographers – it is the sculpture or action within their work that is important. In Windows, Kupferschmidt photographs her sculpture of interconnected wooden triangles at various different locales in Miami. In this way, the sculpture becomes a filter through which we see the landscape. Leung’s works are sculptural actions and interventions with plants and landscapes in suburban Ohio. For Honeysuckle, she cut square holes into the leaves of a Lonicera japonica ( honeysuckle bush), monitoring it over the course of four months (the hardy and invasive plant was mostly unaffected).

The one artist in the show whose work is removed from the natural environment is Tranchell, who has become known for his magazine collages with grocery labels and stickers. Here, he plays with how the landscape is represented and perceived through fashion advertisements, literally putting a price on these idyllic views.


Even though the environment is not the main concern in their works, each artist in Staging Ground challenges and experiments with the natural world, refusing to accept it at face value.

Staging Ground is on view through June 4, 2010.

The Gallery at The Horticultural Society is free and open to the public Monday through Friday, from 12 to 6pm, and by appointment.

Article by Chris Murtha, Curator

For more information http://www.hsny.org/programs_exhibitions.html

HSNY Event: ASBA Opening September 17th

The American Society of Botanical Artists & HSNY Present:
The 11th Annual International Juried Botanical Art Exhibition

SEPTEMBER 17 - NOVEMBER 25, 2008

Opening Reception
Wednesday, September 17, 2008, 6:00 to 8:00pm

The Horticultural Society of New York Gallery
148 West 37th Street, 13th Floor
New York, NY 10018

Gallery hours: Monday – Friday from 11am to 6pm + by appointment

The Eleventh Annual International Juried Botanical Art Exhibition, on view at The Horticultural Society of New York (HSNY) features a juried selection of works from The American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA).

For the past eleven years the show has been co-sponsored by the two cultural non-profit organizations. Chosen from a field of 198 submissions, the forty artworks selected by jurors Francesca Anderson, Carol E. Hamilton, Dick Rauh, and Jessica Tcherepnine have been created by artists from the US, Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, and the UK.

Image credit: Catherine Watters, "Collection de Noix", 2005, watercolor, 17 x 15 inches.

IMPLANT Exhibition Opening August 7th

The UBS Art Gallery and The Horticultural Society of New York
request the pleasure of your company at the Opening Reception for

IMPLANT

Darren Almond, Lothar Baumgarten, Judith Belzer, Dale Berning, Carol Bove, Stan Brakhage, Julia Margaret Cameron, Ian Campbell, Nick Cave, Caw + Ng, Peter Coffin, Sharon Core, Ann Craven, Tacita Dean, William Eggleston, Roe Ethridge, Jane Freilicher, Robert Gober, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Amy Granat, Zach Harris, Susannah Hewlett, Carsten Höller, Katie Holten, Ellsworth Kelly, Karen Kilimnik, David Melrose, Jude Miller, John O, Hiroko Ohno, Dennis Oppenheim, Edgar Orlaineta, Gabriel Orozco, Guiseppe Penone, Pipilotti Rist, Gino Saccone, Jim Sams, Hiraki Sawa, Roman Signer, Simon Starling, Hellen Van Meene, Klaus Weber, James Welling, Carol Woodin, Francesca Woodman.

Thursday, August 7, 2008, 6:00 to 8:00 pm
This exhibition is curated by Jodie Vicenta Jacobson for The Horticultural Society of New York
The UBS Art Gallery
1285 Avenue of the Americas
(between 51st and 52nd Streets)
New York City

Exhibition on view August 7, 2008 through October 31, 2008 at The UBS Art Gallery.

Gallery hours: Monday — Friday 8:00am to 6:00pm

Implant is organized by The Horticultural Society of New York and sponsored by UBS.

Felix Gonzalez–Torres, “Untitled” (Alice B. Toklas’ and Gertrude Stein’s Grave, Paris), 1992. Framed C-print. 29 1/4 x 36 1/4 in. Image: 15 3/5 x 23 1/4 in. Edition of 4, 1 AP. Photo: Peter Muscato. © The Felix Gonzalez–Torres Foundation. Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York.

Notes from Around Town: GreenBranches Learning Garden at Stone Avenue Library

On July 10, 2008, there was a special little ceremony to celebrate the partnership between The Horticultural Society of New York and the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation and the new sculptures out at the Stone Avenue branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. Originally opened in 1914, Stone Avenue, once called the Brownsville Children's Library, was the first public library in Brooklyn designed and opened specifically for children. As part of HSNY's GreenBranches program, the garden at Stone Avenue was designed by Marpillero Pollak Architects and installed by the HSNY Green Team during winter of 2006 and opened in spring of 2007. Today it is a beautiful and aesthetic contribution to the neighborhood as well as being a programmatic space and living classroom for the local community.
(PS. if you want, click on the photographs to enlarge them to full size)
When I arrived at lunch time I found a number of our friends and partners from Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation busy working with and teaching kids of all ages.

Meredith McNeal, Director of Education at Rush, and her class of young watercolor painters had gathered and displayed their latest creations on the benches and were having an afternoon critique. Meredith was teaching the kids about everything from artistic composition to constructive criticism, and they weren't missing a beat.

Linda Pollak, above in the striped shirt, from Marpillero Pollak Architects came out to help us celebrate and see how successfully her garden design has been adopted by the local children. You might notice the beds and benches happen to be the perfect height for a small, curious soul. Yet another genius design by Marpillero Pollak. Green Branches Learning Gardens are designed with each individual community in mind and intended to provide a long-term and sustainable benefit to that neighborhood.

Also helping us celebrate were: Gabriel Pacheco, a Brooklyn artist and educator who's handy work you will see below; Paul Levy, Stone Avenue librarian and a great friend of HSNY; and Patricia Dean who runs the Brownsville Heritage House, a must-visit on the second floor of the library.

The real cause for celebration was the completion of amazing, one-of-a-kind wooden sculptures conceptualized and realized by Brooklyn teens under the supervision of Gabriel Pacheco. You see, before the winter of 2006 this exterior space behind the library had been heavily shaded by a number of Ailanthus altissima, commonly called tree of heaven. For those of you that know this tree, you know they grow like wildfire and are known to seed themselves everywhere they are not welcome, so HSNY made the decision to remove them. The result was a tremendous addition of sun that could then be utilized for growing a wide range of flowering annuals and perennials, including some very well-received tomatoes and basil. With the intention to recycle and use as much as possible in the garden, it was then decided that this would be a perfect opportunity to teach the kids a new art form, namely wood carving. Gabriel sat down with the teens and together they conceptualized how each trunk could be transformed and brought back to life. Over two months last year and one month this year the kids worked their hearts out, as did Gabriel, and created a total of five sculptures now permanently on display behind Stone Avenue.
A year later the teens posted their original drawings on the new shade structure in back and talked us through the creative process.
Gabriel and the students found many gallons of paint that could be recycled and cut up over 200 aluminum cans to add both color and and shiny metal adornments to these unique pieces of art.
Here two chess pieces were created to stand tall behind the raised beds overflowing with perennials coming into full flower.
One young woman had in mind an arrow piercing a broken heart, and thanks to the HSNY garden space and the guidance from those at Rush, she was able to make it a reality she is extremely proud of. The more we talked the more she pointed out to me how each sculpture was individual yet spoke to a common theme, the power of both mind and body. I began to see the peices in a whole new light and they became even more amazing to me.

Needless to say we here at HSNY are all extremely proud too. We couldn't be more proud of this garden that the local community can call their own, proud of this amazing partnership with our friends at Rush, and proud of the creative youth who are so uninhibited and inspirational. Bravo!

To learn more about HSNY and our various outreach programs, as well as information about becoming a member and helping to support these necessary efforts to improve the quality of life in New York through horticulture, visit our website, HSNY.org.

This Evening at HSNY

The Horticultural Society of New York presents:

WORK ARCHITECTURE COMPANY

JULY 10 - SEPTEMBER 5, 2008

Opening Reception @ HSNY: Thursday July 10th, 6 to 8 PM

This exhibition is on view at the HSNY Gallery as part of the program for WORK Architecture Company's concurrent outdoor installation PUBLIC FARM 1:'SUR LES PAVES LA FERME!' at PS1/MoMA. Our exhibition will feature architectural models, prepatory drawings, studio sculptures and photo-documentation from this project.

Photo courtesy of WORK Architecture Company

Photo courtesy Elizabeth Felicella and WORK Architecture Company

Gallery hours: Monday - Friday 11am - 6pm & by appointment

Upcoming Event at HSNY

Image: Ricci Albenda, Garden (detail), 2007, acrylic and charcoal on paper, 55 x 98 inches, courtesy of private collection, New York and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York

The Horticultural Society of New York presents:
RICCI ALBENDA
26 DEVOE

March 21 - May 23, 2008

Opening reception at HSNY
Friday, March 21, 6 to 8:30pm

The artist will open his backyard garden to the public:
Sunday afternoons, March 30, April 13, May 4 + 11, 2008, from 12 to 4pm
@
26 Devoe
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Curated by Jodie Vicenta Jacobson

The Horticultural Society of New York
148 West 37th Street
13th Floor
New York, NY 10018

Gallery hours:
Monday - Friday, 11am - 6pm + by appointment

T: 212 757 0915 x113
F: 212 246 1207
E: jjacobson@hsny.org
www.hsny.org

"Tree Pants" Reviewed in the New York Times

Peter Coffin, Untitled (Tree Pants, Fall), 2007

The current art exhibit on display at The Horticultural Society of New York, "Tree Pants" by Peter Coffin, curated by Jodie Vicenta Jacobson, has been reviewed in today's New York Times by Roberta Smith. To read the review simply click on the link here and scroll down the page until you see the title "Tree Pants". Then be sure and come see the exhibit yourself at HSNY's headquarters at 148 West 37th Street, 13th Floor, Monday through Friday 10am-6pm. But be sure to hurry! This exhibit will only be up on display for another week, closing on September 7th. Hope to see you soon.