Second Annual 'Artists Choose Artists' At The Parrish

This summer, 14 East End artists have been selected to participate in the Parrish Art Museum’s second annual “Artists Choose Artists” juried exhibition.

The show will be on view at the museum in Southampton from Sunday, August 21, through October 9 and will include paintings, sculptures, photography, prints and mixed media.

According to Andrea Grover, associate curator at the Parrish Art Museum, the idea for the exhibition grew out of the Parrish’s longtime mission to bring

people and art closer together.

“The social aspect of the exhibit is a key feature: engineering introductions between emerging, mid-career and well-known artists, with the goal of generating conversations, mentorships, collaborations, or future exhibition opportunities,” Ms. Grover said in an email interview last week. “What has changed since the first iteration of this exhibition is that the jurors now can choose two, rather than just one artist, with whom to exhibit alongside. This increased the overall number of participants to 21 (seven jurors and 14 artists), making it a little less limiting for the jurors, while offering more opportunities to more artists.”

Those interested in participating in the exhibition submitted an online application for review. More than 200 interested artists submitted applications.

Each of the seven jurors— Alice Aycock, Ross Bleckner, Dan Rizzie, Matthew Satz, Gary Simmons, Agathe Snow and Frank Wimberley—had two picks each. The participating jurors have been recognized by the Parrish as accomplished, generous community members who were willing to take the process seriously, according to Ms. Grover.

“They’ve agreed to the substantial time commitment involved in reviewing applicants and visiting studios,” she said.

The only requirement each juror had to acknowledge for artist selection was that each artist had to live full- or part-time on the East End of Long Island.

“Artists Choose Artists” selected artists this year include: Sag Harbor-based artists Kryn Olson and Ross Watts; East Hampton-based artists Mike Solomon, Alice Hope and Julie Small-Gamby; Westhampton Beach-based artist Renate Aller; Wainscott-based artist Mary Ellen Bartley; Shelter Island-based artist Tad Wiley; Bridgehampton-based artists Terry Elkins and Fulvio Massi; Amagansett-based artists Liliya Lifanova and Perry Burns; Southampton-based artist Melinda Hackett; and Mattituck-based artist, Nella Khanis.

Ms. Hackett will be showing two 68-by-100-inch abstract, organic landscape paintings from her element series based on nature. As a Southampton resident her whole life, Ms. Hackett said in an email interview last Thursday that it’s been a lifelong dream to be showing at the Parrish Art Museum.

“I’ve been a huge fan and a member forever, and I’ve seen so many incredible shows there,” Ms. Hackett said. “I have to pinch myself that I’m showing there.”

Ms. Hackett was chosen by juror Gary Simmons to participate in the exhibition.

“He was psyched about the big ones that the Parrish is going to show because he paints on a gigantic scale that I could only dream about,” she said. “I think that what sealed the deal for him was that I paint a hidden peace sign in every painting, he thought that was cool.”

Ms. Grover said that an important characteristic of the selection process was that the jurors did not have access to the names of the applicants during the online juried process.

“We left the process open-ended,” Ms. Grover said. “Jurors made their decisions based on the work samples and the artist statements, followed by face-to-face meetings with their finalists. Each juror was aware that their own would be exhibited alongside their selectees, so there are some formal or conceptual affinities between jurors and the artists they chose.”

According to Ms. Grover, an exhibition of this kind is important because of the connections created between the participating artists.

“It galvanizes the current network of artists living on the East End, who might know of each other but have never been formally introduced,” she said.

The “Artists Choose Artists” exhibition will kick off with an opening reception on Saturday, August 20, at 6 p.m., which will be hosted by Parrish Art Museum Director Terrie Sultan. A short video shot in each of the 14 selected artists’ studios will be shown during the reception, which will also include music by George Cork Maul and the Hidden City Trio. Museum admission is a donation of $5; $3 for students and seniors, and free for children under 18. For more information, call 283-2118 or visit parrishart.org.