Collaborations at The Aldrich
Six New Exhibitions Featuring Creative Partnerships
Reception and Performance
Sunday, June 26, 2011
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum
258 Main Street
Ridgefield, CT 06854
203.438.4519
info [at] aldrichart.org
www.aldrichart.org
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is pleased to announce the opening of six new exhibitions which feature diverse artist partnerships on Sunday, June 26, 2011.
The exhibitions that comprise the Collaborations at The Aldrich semester are: Chelpa Ferro: Visual Sound; Kate Eric: One Plus One Minus One; MTAA: All the Holidays All at Once; Type A: Barrier and Trigger; Jessica Stockholder: Hollow Places Court in Ash-Tree Wood; and Judi Werthein: Do You Have Time?.
The social interaction required for each of the projects unites both individuals and communities to create new collaborative identities, generating fresh art through the utilization of contemporary technology, materials, and expertise.
These exhibitions reflect the ongoing relevance of collaborative practice, the roots of which go back to the 1960s and 1970s when collaboration as a form of production and self-definition started to become common, evidenced by a growing roster of artist teams in the ensuing years, including Bernd and Hilla Becher, Gilbert & George, Jeanne-Claude and Christo, and the Starn Twins.
The Aldrich will celebrate the new exhibitions at a reception from 3 to 5 pm on June 26. Immediately following, a special performance by Brazilian artists Chelpa Ferro (included in the price of admission to the reception) will take place at Ridgefield’s Jesse Lee Memorial United Methodist Church from 6 to 7 pm. FREE onsite parking is available, as is round-trip transportation from the Metro North Katonah Train Station to the Museum for the June 26 afternoon reception only.
This changeover represents the second implementation of a new curatorial programming schedule that exclusively presents seasons of artist exhibitions, all linked by a common theme.
Exhibitions
Chelpa Ferro: Visual Sound
Chelpa Ferro (Portuguese slang for money and steel), a Brazilian collective comprised of renowned visual artists Barrão, Luiz Zerbini, and Sergio Mekler, will make their US debut at The Aldrich with work that demonstrates any object can simultaneously be an instrument and an artwork.
Kate Eric: One Plus One Minus One
Kate Eric is a decade-old collaborative identity comprised of Kate Tedman and Eric Siemens, who methodically take turns as they capture interactions in layers of paint on large-scale canvases. The Aldrich will mount the artists’ first museum exhibition, which includes a survey of their surreal landscape paintings.
MTAA: All the Holidays All at Once
MTAA, a collective comprising Michael Sarff and Tim Whidden, relied on the participation of the community to create ephemeral work in the Sculpture Garden. The project offers a parade-like display of loaned lawn ornaments and a summer picnic on August 21, where guests can celebrate the holiday of their preference.
Type A: Barrier and Trigger
Two different but related works by Type A (Adam Ames and Andrew Bordwin) examine boundaries—both real and imagined: Barrier is a sculpture inspired by “Jersey barriers,” the concrete highway dividers used as security barricades in the post-9/11 world; and Trigger is a new project that explores the complexities of firearm use via photographically-based practice targets made by the artists.
Jessica Stockholder: Hollow Places Court in Ash-Tree Wood
Sculptor Jessica Stockholder has collaborated with cabinetmaker Clifford Moran and screenprinter Gary Lichtenstein to utilize wood from a tree on The Aldrich’s grounds for a project that combines her ongoing interest in ephemeral abstraction with the continuity of place and sense of time found in nature.
Judi Werthein: Do You Have Time?
This film by Judi Werthein features David Kleinman, an unemployed New Yorker obsessed with the untold truths behind the official history of America. Created in one single shot lasting two hours, it presents one person’s unique take on the region’s politics.
Sponsors
The Aldrich is supported, in part, by the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism and the National Endowment for the Arts. Art Works. The official media sponsors of exhibition openings are Ridgefield Magazine and WSHU Public Radio.
Museum
The Aldrich is one of the few independent, non-collecting contemporary art museums in the United States, and the only museum devoted to contemporary art in Connecticut. Founded on Ridgefield’s historic Main Street in 1964, the Museum concentrates its exhibition program on solo exhibitions by emerging and mid-career artists, complemented by acclaimed gallery-based education programs that use the work on view to help adults, families, and over 7,000 students annually to connect to our world through contemporary art. The Museum is located at 258 Main Street, Ridgefield, CT 06877. All exhibitions and programs are handicapped accessible. Free on-site parking. Regular Museum hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 12 noon to 5 pm. For more information call 203.438.4519.
Contact: Pamela Ruggio, pruggio@aldrichart.org, 203.438.4519
