Visit Gallery North’s American Icons: Printmaking
Artistic expression bursts from a New England–style house in Setauket. Gallery North director Judith Levy explains, “Once a boarding house, then a family home, this building was rented in 1965 by Virginia Fuller and Sally Plumb who turned it into an art gallery and made it a nonprofit. It has been a showcase for local artists and people from the nearby regions ever since. We just had our 50th Anniversary Gala Celebration.”
“American Icons: Printmaking” is the current exhibition at Gallery North. It runs through August 21. Levy offers some insider information about this show below.
Why “American Icons?”
Icons have evolved. Where it used to represent Campbell soup cans, today we must treat people living in streets and changes in architecture.
Why is printmaking a focus for the gallery?
Printmaking is all original art composed of multiples where an artist can make many prints from that plate, but [is] original, since printmakers add handwork, so no two are the same. This enables people to own original, reasonably priced art.
What are some of the upcoming events?
August 28 to September 25 is “The Art of Math” featuring a quilter, construction, crochet and assembling of a structure that is designed by math concepts. September 19 and 20 is the Outdoor Art Show. October 9 to November 13 is “Local Color Then and Now” with the Artists Advisory Council working in conjunction with the Historical Society and their book The Three Villages Then and Now. Artists will visit and paint places depicted in the book. A walking tour is included.
What is the direction of the gallery?
Expanding and becoming more regional. Our Community Art Center will soon open and offer collaborative print making with two new print presses and instructors. People will be able to get memberships to come and paint.
What do you see as the direction of the gallery down the line?
The gallery will expand and become more regional. We are opening our Community Art Center next door, a beautiful studio space that will offer collaborative printmaking with our two new print presses and instructors from Stony Brook University. We will offer different kinds of workshops. People will be able to get memberships to come and paint.
Carol Turbin, co-curator of “American Icons: Printmaking” and a printmaker herself, is enthusiastic about the techniques available to the artist in the 21st century.
What inspires you?
Familiar things that you might not notice until the artist does a picture, making you aware.
How did you get the idea to create your print, “Conclave,” depicting rows of the Statue of Liberty?
My dad was a wholesaler of souvenirs in New York. I grew up with stacks of them. Most people have one of these little statues. It’s part of the history of New York and arranged in rows because that’s what I saw. It comes from who you are. I incorporated digital photography and transparencies to create this print.
“American Icons: Printmaking” is a must-see. And while you are circulating through this exciting exhibit, stop by The Shop at Gallery North where you will be tempted by gorgeous prints, glass and sculptures, all reasonably priced.
Gallery North, 93 North Country Road, Setauket, 631-751-2676.