2014 IN ART
Season Four: Year In Review
We expanded our visual art programming this year. World renowned artist, Sterling Ruby, collaborated with us for Basilica SoundScape and created a backdrop for the stage in acid reds, yellows, and deep black which snaked up our factory walls. We also partnered with visiting galleries such as Zach Feuer of Retrospective Gallery and James Fuentes Gallery, and launched a long-dreamed-of exhibition of whale bones by Maine-based brothers, Frank and Dan DenDanto. In the shadows leading up to our annual Basilica SoundScape weekend of music and art, artist Kelie Bowman (pictured above!) of Cinders Gallery painted a large-scale mural, assisted by a team of able volunteers. Jim Krewson’s notable EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH portrait of Marina Abramovic was a hit over the weekend as well. And, thanks to the New England Foundation for the Arts, we were fortunate to kick off the season with a project close to our hearts: ECLIPSE, a work by choreographer Jonah Bokaer and avant-garde visual artist Anthony McCall.
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BUMP: AN INTERACTIVE WHALE EXHIBIT BY FRANK + DAN DENDANTO
Q&A + Discussion on Opening Night // Closing Party with music by Black Sea Hotel, Charlie Looker + Patrick Higgins
OPENING: SATURDAY, AUGUST 23, 5-7 PM
WITH ARTISTS PRESENT FOR Q&A + DISCUSSION and PARTY PRESENTED WITH HUDSON SLOOP CLUB
CLOSING PARTY: FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 8 PM DOORS, 9 PM SOUNDS
MUSIC BY BLACK SEA HOTEL, CHARLIE LOOKER + PATRICK HIGGINS
$10 AT DOOR
ON VIEW: SAT-SUN, 1-4 PM & BY APPOINTMENT
AUG. 23 – SEPT. 1 (LABOR DAY)
The interactive whale exhibit BUMP arrives in Hudson, created by brothers Frank DenDanto and Dan DenDanto, one of the only whale skeletons you will be able to touch and interact with.
BUMP continues Basilica’s commitment towards celebrating the epic, eclectic history and heritage of Hudson, NY which was defined by the whaling industry.
The installation includes bones from three different whales, suspended at eye level in Basilica’s Main Hall and are accessible for hands-on touching – not normally an activity allowed at fine art galleries or natural history displays. Once touched, they are set in motion, causing shadows dance around the space.
On opening night, join us for a Q&A and discussion by the artists. The DenDanto brothers work in tandem – Dan is a cetacean biologist and his brother Frank is a light and theater designer. The brothers have been collaborating for some years on whale skeleton articulations for numerous museums, but recently embarked on the more creative, interactive BUMP piece. BUMP is their first exhibit that was centered around an educational and interactive fine art approach, rather than a traditional scientific assembly. It has previously been exhibited at the Maine College of Art, and went on to show at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Portland, Maine.
A closing celebration with a special music performance by Black Sea Hotel, Charlie Looker, and Patrick Higgins will take place on Friday, August 29 with doors at 8 PM and music at 9 PM. Tickets will be $10 at the door.
Curated by Lea Bertucci, the closing party will provide “an intimate, early music vibe”. Powerhouse a cappella trio Black Sea Hotel are known for their electrifying arrangements of Balkan folk songs, interweaving the ancient and the contemporary in a harmonic blend that has been called otherworldly, haunting, even spellbinding. (Willa Roberts, Sarah Small, Shelley Thomas). Charlie Looker (Extra Life, Seaven Teares, Psalm Zero) provides a haunting voice and guitar ranging from early music to demented covers. Patrick Higgins (Bacchannalia) is an “electrified Bach for the classical guitar”.
BUMP is made possible by Allied Whale, the College of the Atlantic’s marine mammal research group who have loaned the bones for the exhibit, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.