AIHA Showcases Contemporary Regional Art at 66th Annual Exhibition by Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region

On exhibition at the Albany Institute of History & Art through August 25, 2002, the 2002 Exhibition by Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region features 119 works by 67 artists residing within a 100-mile radius of the Capital District.  Founded in 1936, this exhibition is among the longest-running regionals in the country and occupies a major role in the art activity of the Upper Hudson Valley.   This juried exhibition features works in a variety of media including painting, sculpture, drawing, photography and site-specific installation. 

“The year 2002 marks the first Regional to be held in the museum’s new award-winning facility, complete with renovated galleries, new lighting systems, environmental controls and a loading dock and freight elevator to facilitate the delivery of artwork,” said Tammis Kane Groft, Deputy Director for Collections and Exhibitions.  “When the juror came in for a site visit in February, we knew that this would be a wonderful opportunity to highlight AIHA’s new gallery spaces alongside the region’s contemporary art.”

The juror for the exhibition is Linda Norden, Associate Curator of Contemporary Art at the Fogg Art Museum since 1998, who also teaches in the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard University.  “Very few jurors these days are asked to look at art, and not just slides,” commented Norden.  “None that I know of are also asked to curate that art, discuss it in writing, and go on to ‘meet the makers.’  The Mohawk-Hudson regional, in other words, has upped the ante on the judgments it invites: it asks its jurors to mean what they choose.” 

Norden has curated exhibitions on Ed Ruscha, Andreas Gursky and Bernd and Hilla Becher, John Wesly, and Tadashi Kawmata.  Her current exhibition, Extreme Connoisseurship, focuses on habits of looking and includes works by Bruce Nauman, Barbara Kruger, Richard Tuttle, Bridget Riley, Donald

Judd, and David Hammonds.  Prior to moving to Boston, Norden was instrumental in the development of the Bard College Center for Curatorial Studies in Art and Contemporary Culture, where she also taught art history and criticism.  Norden received her undergraduate degree at Brown University and graduate degrees from Columbia University.

The following artists from the 2002 Exhibition by Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region were selected by the juror to receive awards generously sponsored by Capital District businesses and art -patrons: Andrea Hersh Bartfield of Delmar, NY; Mark Briscoe of Livingston, NY; Laura Colomb of Glens Falls, NY; Marje Derrick of Troy, NY; Sara Di Donato of Albany, NY; Abraham Ferraro of Albany, NY; Richard Garrison of Albany, NY; Louanne Genet Getty of New Hartford, NY; Marsha Gregory of Delanson, NY; Aaron Holz of Albany, NY; Ronda Jeffer of Albany, NY, Joan C. McKeon of Hannacroix, NY; Dana Rudolph of Troy, NY; Charles Steckler of Schenectady, NY; Peter Taylor of Troy, NY; Nicholas Warner of Porters Corners, NY and Deborah Zlotsky of Menands, NY.

The Regional is sponsored jointly by the Albany Institute of History & Art, the University Art Museum of the University at Albany and the Schenectady Museum.  Each year the sponsoring institutions purchase one or more artworks for their permanent collections.  The following are this year’s selections:

Albany Institute of History and Art Purchase Awards

Richard Garrison, Sixteen Parking Lot Color Schemes #1 (Albany, NY), 2001

Deborah Zlotsky, Self Portrait Series: Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin, 2001  

Schenectady Museum Purchase Awards

Rob O'Neil, #14-3, 2001; #6-18, 2001; #2-18, 2001; #12-14, 2001; #4-11, 2001

University Art Museum, University at Albany, State University of New York Purchase Awards

Allison Hunter, Port of Albany: #1, 2002; Port of Albany: #2, 2002

Susan Stuart, Green House Off Clinton, 2001

Funding for this exhibition has been provided by:  Mr. & Mrs. C. Wayne Williams, John & Barbara Puig, William J. Lowe, and an anonymous donor, with additional support from Taylor Made Group, Inc. and Mr. & Mrs. Stanley A. Rosen.