July Art Highlights
Through 8/14- Sculpture, drawings, and paintings by JON ISHERWOOD, BRUCE GAGNIER, DIONISIO CORTES & LETICIA ORTEGA, SUSAN SCOTT, MICHAEL VOLONAKIS, and JOYCE ROBINS (through 7/17); DAISY CRADDOCK, BRUCE GAGNIER, ERIN WALRATH, RUTH LAUER MANENTI, GABRIEL PHIPPS, and JENNIFER RILEY (7/17 through 8/14), at John Davis Gallery, Hudson—When it comes to presenting and promoting fine artists from across the Northeast U.S. (and beyond), Hudson’s John Davis Gallery stands with the best, with two high quality shows dovetailing in the month of July. The first (through 7/17) features new works by Jon Isherwood, whose sculptures “are a result of a unique process allowing him to attain an uncompromised precision in the carving of the incised surfaces, which play with and against the swelling, fleshy, soft and yet substantial character of his organic forms. Isherwood’s drawings further illustrate and complement the tension between image, shape and skin that characterizes his carvings.” In response to the prevailing and intensified violence in Mexico—which has claimed more than 35,000 lives over the past few years—Leticia Ortega and Dionisio Cortes have created 35,000 drops, a three-story high, drawing/installation, in the Elevator Shaft Installation section. Susan Scott pushes paint construction to the limits. “The process of restructuring—re-finding formal relationships allows a kind of narrative to edge its way into the work without being literal, so the paintings remain open to very broad readings, always subjective.” Intuitive and color-rich abstracts by Michael Volonakis contrast with the arrangements of amorphous clay shapes, courtesy of Joyce Robins, while Bruce Gagnier’s oddly-muscled clay people lurk about in the Sculpture Garden.
Second show (7/17 through 8/14, artist reception Sa 7/23, 6-8 PM) features Hudson River and Berkshire landscape artist Daisy Craddock, who seems to capture the hazy essence of summer by the water effortlessly. Ruth Lauer Manenti celebrates the modestly simple: “I started weaving paper blankets, making drawings of handkerchiefs and photographing plates and chairs as a way of calling attention to the beauty and importance of everyday objects, and situations that often go unnoticed.” Layers reveal themselves in the paintings of Erin Walrath. 
“There is something within ourselves that we recognize in surfaces that are distressed, peeling, rotting, unraveling, and fading. These surfaces speak to our mortality on the one hand and on the other, to the love we have for the marks we leave on this material world.” Gabriel Phipps presents Mondrianesque squares and rectangles in metallic hues, while the playfully abstract drawings and paintings of Jennifer Riley splash out in shades of black and primary colors. John Davis Gallery, 36 Warren St., Hudson, www.johndavisgallery.com, 518.828.5907. Artist reception for second show Sa 7/23 6-8 PM. Gallery hours Th-Mo 11 AM- 5 PM
Through 10/31- “BLINKY PALERMO: RETROSPECTIVE” at Dia: Beacon, Riggio Galleries, Beacon; and at Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson—Organized by Dia Art Foundation and CCS Bard, “Blinky Palermo: Retrospective 1964-1977” represents the first collaboration between the two largest museums in the Hudson Valley dedicated to art from the 1960s to the present. The influential German artist (1943-1977) has been a Dia:Beacon favorite; his To the People of New York CityTo the People of New York City (1976) has been shown since the studio’s inauguration in 1987. This retrospective—curated by Lynne Cooke—includes over sixty works, few of which have been seen in the U.S., and is the culmination of nine years of planning, and this is the last stop on a nationwide tour. “Blinky Palermo: Retrospective 1964–1977” encompasses the four principal categories of the artist’s oeuvre, with works divided chronologically between CCS Bard and Dia. On view in the CCS Bard galleries will be the Objects created by the artist shortly after he graduated from Joseph Beuys’s class, at the Düsseldorf Art Academy in 1964; Cloth Pictures, dating from 1968; and documentation of his Wall Drawings and Paintings. 
The installation at Dia:Beacon will be devoted to Palermo’s Metal Pictures, which were made between 1973 and 1977 when they were interrupted, in media res, by the artist’s untimely death. Both installations will feature new loans to the retrospective: four significant works from the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, will be on view at CCS Bard, and the Dia:Beacon presentation will include Times of the Day versions III, IV, V, and VI (all works 1975), which have been borrowed from a private collection. A series of public programs are scheduled at the Dia:Beacon exhibition, with artist talks and walkthroughs: Josiah McElheny (Sa 7/9, 2 PM), David Reed (Su 7/24, 2 PM). Dia:Beacon, Riggio Galleries, 3 Beekman St., Beacon, www.diabeacon.org, 845.440.0100, Th-Mo 11 AM- 6 PM; The Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, 33 Garden Rd., Annandale-on-Hudson, www.bard.edu/ccs, 845.758.7598. We-Su 1-5 PM
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