Solitude and Focus: Recent Work by MacDowell Colony Fellows in the Visual Arts
January 23–June 22, 2005Solitude and Focus: Recent Work by MacDowell Colony Fellows in the Visual Arts, featured the work of thirteen artists who had participated in recent residencies at The MacDowell Colony. The exhibition was on view at The Aldrich from January 23 through June 22, 2005.
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 represented a cross-section of visual arts disciplines, including photography, painting, drawing, animation, sculpture, printmaking, video, and installation. Participating artists were 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 provocatively explored 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 premiered at The Aldrich. Work was chosen for this exhibition with the aim of conveying a sense of the individual achievement of MacDowell Fellows and their ongoing contribution to America's cultural life. A catalogue was published in conjunction with the project, including commentary by Klein and participating artists.
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Joyce Kozloff, in collaboration with Judith Solodkin, New Mexico and Florida, 1656, 1999, Lithography and monoprint, Paper size: 6 1/2 x 11 1/2, No. 2 from an edition of fourteen, Courtesy Solo Impression, Inc., New York
Jane South, Untitled (infrastructure), 2005, Cut and folded paper, acrylic, ink, and balsa, 168 x 24 x 10, Courtesy of the artist and Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York
Whiting Tennis, Mystic, 2004, Acrylic, collage, graphite, ink, and crayon on canvas, 26 x 40, Courtesy Derek Eller Gallery, New York
Bill Jacobson, New Year's Day #5038, 2003, Chromogenic print, Image size: 36 x 30, Courtesy Julie Saul Gallery, New York
Sarah Jane Lapp and Mark Dresser, Still from Chronicles of an Asthmatic Stripper, 2002, Hand-drawn animated 35mm film converted to DVD, Color, sound, 5 minutes, Animation: Sarah Jane Lapp, Solo bass score and performance: Mark Dresser, Cinematography: Sal Mallimo, Courtesy of the 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."
Top of page: Mark Greenwald, Lucy, 2004, Oil on panel, 9 1/2 x 9 3/4, Courtesy DC Moore Gallery, New York
