Hudson Valley Artists: Bibliography Sourcing Inspiration at Dorsky

A room with art on the wall

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Installation view of Hudson Valley Artists: Bibliography at The Dorsky Museum of Art

Words evoke a myriad of visuals; images encapsulate words, concepts, and ideals. This symbiotic relationship, the dance between the written word and visual art, is the crux of Bibliography. On view at the Dorsky Museum at SUNY New Paltz through April 7, this exhibition documents how books conjure different facets of the exhibiting artists’ thoughts. Books function as a thematic thread, connecting the artworks on view to broader references of knowledge and providing entry points for understanding their aesthetic, social, or political implications. Exhibiting artists include Osi Audu, Alta Buden, Shari Diamond, Kerry Downey, Stevenson Estime, eteam (Franzisa Lamprecht and Hajoe Moderegger), Aki Goto, Adam Henry, Matthew Kirk, Niki Kriese, Melora Kuhn, Catherine Lord, Sean Sullivan, and Audra Wolowiec.  

By featuring books in the exhibition, Bibliography becomes a textual journey. It traces the sources encountered during the genesis of ideas—the moments when creativity sparks, artists and writers engage with texts, and inspiration flows. The exhibition is a living bibliography, inviting viewers to explore the intellectual lineage behind the art on view and consider the role of books in the creative process. Books have long been a source of inspiration for artists, writers, and thinkers. They contain narratives, histories, and ideas that can ignite the imagination. In this exhibition, artists draw from the rich tapestry of literature, philosophy, and scholarly discourse to inform their work.

But Bibliography goes beyond mere inspiration: it takes a bold step by utilizing books as material for the artworks on view. The dual nature of books within the exhibition—as vessels of knowledge (reference material) and tangible artifacts (material objects) —becomes an integral component of the visual language. Several artists in the exhibition transform books into sculptural forms, altering their physicality and imbuing them with new meanings.

A room with art on the wall

Description automatically generated
Installation view of Hudson Valley Artists: Bibliography at The Dorsky Museum of Art

The paintings, prints, video, sculpture, installation, sound, and mixed-media works in Bibliography investigate the multifaceted role of books within the exhibition. Woven into an art installation or deliberately positioned near an artwork, these publications create fluid and elusive connections that defy rigid categorization and invite viewers to interpret them uniquely. The correlations between books and art are not predetermined; they shimmer with possibility. With a masterful curation by Sophie Landers, the exhibition boasts a breathtaking and awe-inspiring ensemble. I was particularly moved by the works of Audra Wolowiec, Catherine Lord, eteam, and Melora Kuhn.

Audra Wolowiec’s Air is a mesmerizing sound installation and notational score created by extracting the commas from the Constitution of the United States of America. In music notation, the comma is the mark for a performer to take a breath. Wolowiec invited breath practitioners from various fields—singers, actors, yoga, and Lamaze instructors—to translate and interpret these pages of commas through their respective training and practice of breathing. Recordings of the interpretations created a chorus of breath installed spatially on exposed wooden beams, drawing attention to the usually hidden details of architectural spaces. Commas from the pages of the sound score punctuate the walls. As an integral component of Wolowiec’s installation, two volumes are exhibited on shelves: Dictee, authored by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha in 1982, and Sea and Fog, by Etel Adnan, 2012. These literary works were included in the exhibit’s thematic framework.

Audra Wolowiec, AIR (sound installation), 2020, 5-channel sound installation, wooden beams, and vinyl commas 

Catherine Lord’s installation Tropical Light, Undone offers a profound exploration of multifaceted themes—colonialism, memory, and identity—within the context of the Caribbean island of Dominica. Drawing inspiration from the commonplace books of Dr. Henry Alfred Alford Nicholls, a British botanist and plantation owner, this variable installation weaves diverse artistic elements: paintings, photographs, poems, and archival materials. The installation is a critical lens through which to interrogate power dynamics—those between colonizers and colonized, public and private, and image and word. Lord challenges prevailing historical narratives and legacy constructs by engaging in a dialogue on colonialism, complicity, and cultural property. The result is a poignant and thought-provoking experience for viewers. Notably, the installation also features thirteen copies of Lord’s book, The Effect of Tropical Light on White Men (2023), further enriching the thematic depth and inviting contemplation.

Catherine Lord, Tropical Light, Undone, 2024, mixed media

eteam’s (Franziska Lamprecht and Hajoe Moderegger) works on view, Our Non-Understanding of Everything, is an ongoing 16-part video series that documents the artists’ travels and encounters with various cultures, places, and phenomena. Using humor, irony, and absurdity, eteam challenges the assumptions and expectations of the viewers, inviting them to question their understanding of everything. The videos are based on books the artists found, read, or received during their journeys, creating a connection between text and image. Two volumes are exhibited on shelves: The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt in 1951 and Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard in 1974.

eteam, Our Non-Understanding of Everything, Ongoing, 16 part video-series. Photo courtesy of the artist.  

Melora Kuhn’s dazzling oil on canvas, The Legacy of Disembodiment After Sebastiano Ricci, is part of a series examining tales of rape and abduction that ignore female perspectives. Kuhn uses a mirror to create a distorted and fragmented image of the original painting by the baroque Venetian painter Ricci, which depicts a scene of violence and abduction. Through her art, Kuhn exposes power dynamics and gender stereotypes that have influenced the representation and perception of women’s bodies in art history and society. Additionally, two books, The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel A van der Kolk (2014) and Why Does Patriarchy Persist? by Carol Gilligan and Naomi Snider (2018), are available on the shelves.

Melora Kuhn, The Legacy of Disembodiment After Sebastiano Ricci Ⅱ, 2024 , Oil on canvas

By incorporating books into their artworks, these artists elevate the book from a mere vessel of information to an object of contemplation. The book’s physicality—the weight, texture, and smell—becomes part of the aesthetic experience. Visitors to the exhibition are encouraged to touch, flip through, and engage with the books, blurring the boundaries between reading and viewing.

Bibliography explores the role of books in contemporary culture in an age of digital information dominated by artificial intelligence and predictive algorithms, where screens increasingly replace books. It embraces the unpredictable possibility inherent in the interplay of books and art. Rather than relying on neatly calculated outcomes, the exhibition revels in the unexpected by waging its significance on the serendipitous encounters between printed words and visual expressions. These connections defy algorithms; they are organic, surprising, and resistant to easy categorization.

The exhibition challenges the notion of art as a neatly packaged output. Instead of conforming to computational logic, the works in Bibliography meander freely. Ideas transcend boundaries, subject matter, artistic mediums, and even periods: they flow, merge, and transform. At the heart of this creative exchange lies a sense of community. The exhibition celebrates the communal nature of ideas—the way they echo through generations, inspire dialogue, and weave a shared narrative.

Bibliography reminds us of the enduring power of the printed word. It prompts us to consider how books shape our understanding of the world and how artists can breathe new life into these familiar objects. It invites us to embrace the unpredictable and recognize that creativity thrives in liminal spaces where connections remain open-ended and communal.

Installation view of Hudson Valley Artists: Bibliography at The Dorsky Museum of Art

All photo courtesy of The Dorsky unless otherwise indicated.

Hudson Valley Artists: Bibliography, curated by Sophie Landres, is the Dorsky Museum’s 17th annual exhibition celebrating the creativity and diversity of artists who live or work in Upstate New York; at the Dorsky Museum at SUNY New Paltz through April 7, 2024.

About the writer: Eva Zanardi is a freelance writer, independent curator, and owner of Visitor Center, a contemporary art gallery in Newburgh, NY. Her writing has been featured in various publications, including White-Hot Magazine, Widewalls, and Art & Object Magazine, among other international print and online media. Before relocating to Upstate NY, Eva founded and directed GR Gallery, known for its cutting-edge contemporary art exhibitions in New York City. Additionally, she serves as the President and Senior Advisor of EZartconsultingnyc, a private art consultancy that specializes in modern and contemporary art, with a particular focus on Op Art, Kinetic Art, Concrete Art, Spatialism, and Programmed Art.