Long Island-Inspired 'Water Bodies' Displayed At Southampton Arts Center

The Southampton Arts Center has partnered with the New York Academy of Art to present “Water|Bodies,” and a public opening reception this Saturday, July 2, will mark the exhibition of artworks by academy and East End artists.

Curators Eric Fischl and David Kratz wanted to celebrate how life on Long Island revolves around water, bodies and the intersection of the two. The show includes about 60 paintings, photographs and sculptures depicting beachgoers, waterlilies, the ocean, nudes and waterfalls among other subjects to show the natural beauty and interconnectedness between water and bodies.

According to Mr. Kratz, 35 artists are featured and they are almost evenly split between those from the East End and academy alumni. Many of the academy artists are recent Master of Fine Arts recipients, and their works are placed alongside those of artists like David Salle, Enoc Perez and Patrick Demarchelier.

“To do this, we didn’t know exactly how many works we would need,” Mr. Kratz explained. “What we did at the school was we built an 18-foot-long scale model of this building and the interior, and then we printed all the works in scale to that model and we hung the show that way.”

Instead of grouping the works by artist, as previous exhibitions in the center had usually done, the curators decided to place works together that complement one another.

“We wanted the works to speak to each other,” Mr. Kratz said. “The dialogue between the works was more important to us than keeping multiple works by the same artist together. We thought the show was more interesting that way.”

New York Academy of Art, based in Tribeca, provides intensive training in traditional methods and techniques that prepare artists to create contemporary art. This exhibition has allowed graduates of the school to showcase their work to the public on a large scale.

This is the first time that the academy has come to the arts center. This project began last fall and spent a significant time gathering works from a diverse set of artists.

Mr. Kratz, a resident of Southampton for 25 years, attended the academy from 2006 to 2008 and became the president a year later. Mr. Fischl lives in North Haven and is a senior critic and board member at the academy.

The curators showcased some of their own works in the exhibition as well. One of Mr. Kratz’s works, titled “Periphery,” which is three paintings that create one triptych, includes his sister and brother-in-law on Wyandanch Beach in Southampton as two young men playfully grapple. Mr. Fischl’s only piece at the show, titled “Sisters of Cythera,” depicts two standing nude women on the beach.

“Water|Bodies” is on view through Sunday, July 31, at the Southampton Arts Center, 25 Jobs Lane, Southampton. The gallery is open Thursdays through Sundays from noon to 6 p.m. The opening reception on Saturday, July 2, is open to the public and will be held from 5 to 7 p.m.

On Thursday, July 14, the center will host an artists talk in which the curators and a select few artists will discuss the exhibition and share stories and memories of life on the water. The event will take place at 7 p.m. and admission is $12 per person. To RSVP, visit southamptonartscenter.org.