"Hope" by Jonah Samson
The Ann Street Gallery is delighted to present their newest exhibition, Frame of Reference: Dioramas in 21st Century, with an Artist Reception on Saturday, June 4, 2011 from 6:00-9:00 pm.
This exhibition highlights a group of thirteen artists who explore the theme of self-created worlds of dioramas, while addressing a variety of contemporary concerns, including psychological and social issues, natural environments and virtual realities. The works in the exhibition are diverse in size and medium, such as tiny matchbox situations, room-sized installations, embroideries, paintings, video, architectural and ecological sculptural models and psychologically charged photographic studies of miniature environments.
Many of us are captivated by the magical charm of dioramas and there seems to be an innate human desire to recreate our surroundings, especially those that transform the landscape of life into parallel or miniature environments. As children or hobbyists of any age, we love playing with a favorite dollhouse or creating miniature action-packed toy soldier battles. Historically, we can see this same fascination beginning with ancient cultures, such as the small scale environmental models found in ancient Egyptian tombs, or the elaborate Medieval Christmas crèches, right through to 1822 when Louis Daguerre coined the word “diorama” in reference to the his new type of theatrical entertainment, only to reappear again as our present day virtual reality games.
Artists featured in the exhibition are Jessica Bottalico, Darlene Charneco, Lisa Dahl, Lisa di Donato, Jennifer Hunold, Misako Inaoka, Katerina Lanfranco, Elizabeth Livingston, Jason Paradis, Margaret Roleke, Jonah Samson, Justin Shull and Rachel Vaters-Carr.
The exhibition is on view through Saturday, July 9.
The Ann Street Gallery is a nonprofit art gallery specializing in contemporary emerging and established artists. The gallery is located at 104 Ann Street in Newburgh, and hours are Monday through Thursday 9:00 am-5:00 pm and Friday through Saturday 11:00 am-5:00 pm.
For more information regarding Frame of Reference and the Ann Street Gallery, contact Virginia Walsh, Director at (845) 784-1146 or vwalsh@annstreetgallery.org, or visit www.annstreetgallery.org.
