Sarah Todd reports from Millerton.Three years ago, Millerton artist Henry Klimowicz (left) set about transforming his 1960s-era barn into a state-of-the-art exhibition space. Now The Re Institute, located on the 40-acre farm where Klimowicz lives with his wife, physician Kristie Schmidt, is a regular destination for artists and art-lovers. On Saturday, September 29, gallery-goers turned out for the closing party of the exhibition Elephant. Curated by Daniel Carello, Elephant features works by four artists, each of which consider different aspects of memory, size, and time. Shoshana Dentz’s 35-foot-long painting, which spanned the length of a wall, explored repetition with images of tiny, gouache-brushed bricks that undulated on a paper canvas. Nearby, viewers contemplated a video installation by Dentz’s husband, Dutch photographer and artist Frank Oudeman. A bouncing object, projected onto a white pedestal, appeared to come close to the surface and recede. “Maybe it’s a baby head,” one onlooker suggested. “But I don’t think we’re supposed to know.” Meanwhile, Dentz and Oudeman’s young son Averie tossed his toys--a stuffed penguin, duck, and goose--into the air with vigor. “It’s performance art,” his father said. The closing party gave art-appreciators the chance to connect with the artists whose work they admired. Journalist Peter Richmond, who purchased a pen and ink drawing by Brooklyn artist Pedro Gomez, took the picture home with him as the party wound down. “Do you need any gift wrap?” Gomez joked. Richmond said it wasn’t necessary—there was already a spot on his desk with the picture's name on it.
Brooklyn restauranteur Deborah Williams with writer Lisa Cornelio; young artist Slade West with her mother Jennifer Dowley, president of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.
Teachers Carol Meiseles and Carol Falcetti with Steven Meiseles; artist Pedro Gomez with Ralph Lauren designer Nancy Beck and their son, Oden.
Journalist Peter Richmond, his daughter, musician Hillary Barleaux, and painter Richard T. Scott.
Artist Lynton Wells with Margaret Wells; artists Shoshana Dentz and Frank Oudeman with their son, Averie.
Peggy O'Brien, music and mixed media artist Todd Merrell, and painter and sculptor David Valyou; Keith Reynolds with Norman Osofsky.
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Matteline deVries-Dilling, founder of Lite Brite Neon, one of the evening's honoree of this year's Upstate Benefit adresses the gala from the Caboose's caboose.
- Karen Pearson. Courtesy Art Omi.
Olana senior vice president and landscape curatorMark Prezorski, president Sean Sawyer, The evenings honoree Kristin Gamble and New York State Assemblymember Didi Barrett.
- Oxygen House Photo
