Foregrounding the Palisades
The Palisades from Wave Hill, credit Benjamin Swett
The view across the Hudson River to the majestic Palisades is integral to Wave Hill’s landscape. This fall, artists Isidro Blasco, Blane De St. Croix and Paula Winokur bring the Palisades into focus in Foregrounding the Palisades, an exhibition of site-specific sculptural installations in Glyndor Gallery. A shared interest in geology, ecology, preservation and history serves as inspiration for the artists, who construct these new works through distinct proccesses. New York City-based Blasco uses photography to convey multiple vantage points. Winokur, based in the Philadelphia area, works in clay to make a wall piece that brings the massive rock features to room-sized scale. New York City-based De St. Croix’s sculpture utilizes the full, floor-to-ceiling volume of the space in Glyndor Gallery; he is also exhibiting an outdoor sculpture at the Hudson River Museum that relates to a view of the Palisades framed by the building’s architecture.
A shared view and appreciation of the Palisades offers the opportunity for Wave Hill to collaborate with two other institutions along the lower Hudson—the Hudson River Museum and the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. Public programs provide occasions to visit all three locations, exploring the Palisades through walks, special hikes, artist workshops and lectures. The Hudson River Museum will feature work in its permanent collection that focuses on the Palisades. Blane De St. Croix’s sculpture at the Hudson River Museum provides a connection between all three institutions, inspired by the Palisades and created specifically for this exhibition. A catalogue of the exhibition will feature interviews with each artist.
Foregrounding the Palisades is the first in a conceptual series of visual and performing art exhibitions honoring the famous residents of Wave Hill over the last century. Such well-known figures as Mark Twain, Arturo Toscanini and Theodore Roosevelt, for example, once called Wave Hill home. In addition, the Palisades feature prominently in the earliest years of Wave Hill, and the efforts of former owner George W. Perkins to protect the beautiful landscape on the western side of the Hudson. Together with John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan, Perkins was instrumental in the creation of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, effectively halting industrial exploitation of the Palisades and making it—and the iconic view it affords from Wave Hill—available for the enjoyment of residents and visitors alike.
Reception: Sunday, September 23, 2–4PM
Tags:
