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SOLITUDE AND FOCUS: Recent Bill Jacobson
Work by MacDowell Colony Fellows in the Visual Arts
January 23 - June 22, 2005
Opening Reception: Sunday, January 23, 2005, 4 to 6 pm
Ridgefield, CT (November 1, 2004) - The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is pleased
to present the exhibition, Solitude and Focus: Recent Work by MacDowell Colony
Fellows in the Visual Arts, featuring the work of thirteen artists who participated
in recent residencies at The MacDowell Colony. The exhibition will be on view
at The Aldrich from January 23 through June 22, 2005. An opening reception will
be held on Sunday, January 23, from 4 to 6 pm. Round-trip transportation from
NYC is available, please call the Museum at 203.438.4519 for reservations.
Founded in Peterborough, New Hampshire, in 1907, by the American composer Edward
MacDowell and his wife, Marian MacDowell, The MacDowell Colony is one of the
most revered artist retreats in the US. Each year more than 240 artists, including
architects, composers, filmmakers, writers, visual artists, and those working
in interdisciplinary genres, come to MacDowell from all over the world to focus
on their work in an inspiring environment created to foster the imagination.
The Colony's mission remarkably parallels that of The Aldrich in their commitment
to supporting new work by visual artists.
Organized by Richard Klein, Aldrich director of exhibitions, the exhibition
will represent a cross-section of visual arts disciplines, including photography,
painting, drawing, animation, sculpture, printmaking, video, and installation.
Participating artists include: John Bisbee, Lynn Cazabon, Neil
Goldberg, Mark Greenwold, Bill Jacobson, Joyce Kozloff
in collaboration with Judith Solodkin, Sarah Jane Lapp and Mark
Dresser, Jane South, Whiting Tennis, Alan Wiener, and
Amy Yoes. A new video by New York-based artist Neil Goldberg will provocatively
explore the need and motivation to create art. Shot in 2001 while Goldberg was
a Fellow at MacDowell, the video pieces together interviews with five other
artists who were in residence at the time and will premiere at The Aldrich.
Each work chosen for this exhibition will aim to convey a sense of the individual
achievement of MacDowell Fellows and their ongoing contribution to America's
cultural life. A catalogue will be published in conjunction with the project,
including commentary by Klein and participating artists.
The MacDowell Colony nurtures the arts by offering creative individuals of the
highest talent an inspiring environment in which to produce enduring works of
imagination. Since its inception in 1907, more than 5,500 women and men of exceptional
ability have come to the Colony. Situated on 450 acres of woodlands and fields,
the Colony has 32 studios, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places,
and is a National Historic Landmark. Works of art conceived, developed, and
completed during residencies at MacDowell have added immeasurably to our country's
cultural life. In 1997, The MacDowell Colony was awarded the National Medal
of Arts for “nurturing and inspiring many of this century's finest artists.”
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, located at 258 Main Street, Ridgefield,
CT, is renowned as a national leader for its presentation of outstanding new
art, cultivation of emerging artists, and innovation in museum education. Regular
Museum hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 12 noon to 5 pm. For more information,
please call 203-438-4519 or visit www.aldrichart.org
New Year's Day #5038, 2003
Chromogenic print
Image size: 36 x 30
Courtesy Julie Saul Gallery, New York