Hudson River Museum

Yonkers, New York

914.963.4550

 

 

Drip, Blow, Burn: Forces of Nature in Contemporary Art

February 12 - June 20, 1999

 

Dennis Oppenheim, Digestion, Gypsum Gypsies, 1989, mixed media, 12 x 6 x 3 feet, collection of the artist, photo: Anne Plumb

This dynamic contemporary art exhibition showcases the work of American artists who employ wind, water and fire as integral components of their art. The works on display demonstrate how artists actually use the elements to animate, transform or even destroy their art. Many pieces were commissioned by the Museum specifically for the exhibition and take advantage of the Museum's architecture and magnificent setting along the Hudson River. Wind, water and fire are active forces of nature. They can be simultaneously life sustaining and deadly. The exhibition team chose these three elements due to their changing, often intangible properties. Artists use wind, water or fire to explore life cycles of birth and death, to elicit personal memories, to comment upon human relationships with the natural and artificial landscape, and to investigate environmental concerns such as weather and pollution. Furtherniore, wind, water and fire are challenging media for artists to employ because they are so difficult to control. Temperatures must be maintained, fires fueled, water pumped. Inherent in all of the art works is the element of chance and danger.

Drip, Blow, Burn: Forces of Nature in Contemporary Art provides a real spectacle for the senses--movement, smell, touch and sound. Included in the exhibit are renowned contemporary artists Bill Viola, Dennis Oppenheim, Andy Warhol, Meg Webster, Pietro Costa and Jannis Kounellis; site-specific installations by Donald Lipski, Robert Whitman, Betty Beaumont, Bill and Mary Buchen and Eve Andree Laramee; along with emerging artists MiYoung Sohn, Ray Beldner, Roman de Salvo and Stacey Levy.

rev. 11/22/10, 12/18/20


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