Art & History Vibe with The Boat & The Whale in Sag Harbor

Sometimes the most interesting art exhibitions in town are those a bit off the beaten path — such is the case with The Boat & The Whale, a wonderfully inviting and unique new show at the Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum featuring 13 East End artists, including Paton Miller, Scott Bluedorn, Isadora Capraro, Georgia Suter, Jim Gingerich, Franco Cuttica, Forrest Gray, Nick Whelan, Kevin Ink, Loren Eiferman, Cayce Adams, Andre Benoit and Dave O, the show’s curator.

The Boat & The Whale is presented in tandem with The Ark, a special summer show curated by Eric Fischl at The Church in Sag Harbor, and the works on view, which all speak to whaling or the region’s deep maritime connections, are put together beautifully by Olson. The curator, who helps restaurants collect and display art, mostly in Boston, really operated on gut and instinct when making choices for this collection on view in the historic former home of a whaling ship owner and partial Masonic lodge and temple that has remained in use since 1920.

Dave O spoke to Dan’s Papers about this exhibition and his approach to curating the fantastic works that give it such life and personality.

A Chat with Dave O

How did you decide what to include in this show?

Sometimes I know how to put art shows together. With this one, I just wanted it to feel like a modern art show in an old whaling museum. It should somehow feel like they belong in the Whaling Museum. That’s all — just to me.

Sure, so it’s a vibe. I get it.

Yeah, and because that building is very vibey, I wanted to feel like it was this cool little show that relates to it. … in that old house, that old whaling house, it feels modern and feels local at the same time, which I think is cool.

It also feels kind of rustic and folk to me.

There is that thread. That is what I was looking for. Like in my work, when I build a canvas to paint on, I take pages out of old books from the 1800s on purpose. In case anybody cares to read something, they’re going to read something where they talk different than we do. And I’m like, yeah, because it’s from the 1800s it looks vaguely Shakespearean. There’s narrative built into my work, even though the piece I put in is kind of sentimental — it’s a picture of my youngest son, and myself, kind of a mash up between us, like this child that we never had. … One day that kid came home with this giant fluke, and I’m like, oh my God, what am I supposed to do with this? I had to look it up on YouTube and figure out how to how to filet it, and we ate it that night.

With that wide brimmed hat, the kid in your painting also reminds me of a character in a Paton Miller painting. And then you have a Paton Miller drawing of an Inuit on view, which obviously has great roots in whaling.

There’s something that sails above it, like in the north, where you’re doing it for absolutely and only your survival. I picked that Paton Miller piece because of its iciness. It’s perfect.

I also love this Portuguese man-o-war painting by Cayce Adams. It’s almost floral and it looks like a painting that you could have pulled out of an old attic somewhere.

Casey is becoming a poet, a visual poet I mean. Georgia (Suter) is too. The women out here are all poets, the painters, they’re all poets. … I love it. It’s like they’re picking up the myths, the story or something.

I really like Georgia’s painting, too. It’s interesting and fun.

The one with the sails that go all the way up and up and up? It’s very much like a movie, a noir film narrative. And there’s people having dinner on this crazy boat — so she adds these people and there are actors in the scene.

How exactly does The Boat & The Whale tie in with The Ark at The Church? I know the ark playground is part of it, right?

They got a grant. They’re like, well, we’re not going to put that ark in front of the church. So they called the whaling museum (to take it) and said, “Hey, let’s put on a show together.”

The Boat & The Whale is on view now at the Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum, 200 Main Street in Sag Harbor. Visit sagharborwhalingmuseum.org or call 631-725-0770 for more info.