Spring and Summer Shows at the Parrish Art Museum

The Parrish Art Museum has announced its exhibition schedule for the upcoming 2024 season, featuring summer solo shows by Eddie Martinez, Sam Moyer, Julia Chiang and KAWS. Individually, the exhibitions offer a unique journey into the minds and works of these acclaimed artists, from Moyer’s exploration of materiality and light to Martinez’s vibrant, large-scale paintings inspired by his son’s fascination with butterflies. Julia Chiang, known for her meditative painterly process, will be presenting new work in her first major institutional solo exhibition. Summer 2024 marks the Parrish’s first survey of KAWS who will be exhibiting large-scale shaped canvases of iconic figures alongside a new series of never-before-seen paintings and bronze sculptures.

In each artist’s exhibition, they have created new works specifically for the Parrish spaces.

“To continue the momentum of last year’s 125th anniversary, we are presenting the next generation of artists, including new, distinct viewpoints in contemporary art this year,” said the museum’s executive director Mónica Ramírez-Montagut. “From engaging our Latinx community through shows by Salvadoran artist Simón Vega and Canadian-Mexican artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer to featuring Eddie Martinez and Sam Moyer who seasonally live on the North Fork. We are excited to facilitate Julia Chiang’s museum debut and the first KAWS survey on the East End. This lineup of exhibitions is a significant milestone for the Parrish, and these dynamic experiences will illuminate how art, architecture, and design enrich our engagement with our region and the world.”

Adding to the uniqueness of each exhibition, this grouping also reveals other aspects the artists have in common, such as being two married couples who are also friends. Showing these artists together highlights the continued history of artist communities that are historically prevalent on the East End, from the en plein air impressionists in the 1800s to abstract expressionists in the 1940s and 1950s and others today. The East End embodies a unique legacy of creative dialogue and camaraderie, an element that is embedded in the artistic culture of the area.

“The idea for a ‘collective’ invitation to create more expansive projects at the Parrish for the summer grew out of our wonderful collaborations in 2023 with Martinez, Moyer and KAWS for ‘Artists Choose Parrish,’ the yearlong exhibition series celebrating the Parrish’s 125th anniversary where we asked renowned artists with deep roots on the East End to select works from the collection to be shown alongside their own,” said the Parrish’s chief curator Corinne Erni. “It’s going to be an incredible season filled with exciting art and conversation around these planned exhibitions.”

Accompanying the exhibitions will be a series of related programs, including talks by the participating artists and thematic programming curated to enrich visitors’ experiences throughout the summer.

Eddie Martinez: June 30 – September 29

Celebrated for his bold paintings, Eddie Martinez’s exhibition will unveil his newest large-scale Bufly paintings; including seven new 12-foot-tall pieces that take full advantage of the museum’s expansive space and high ceilings. Martinez started the Bufly series in 2021 when his son Arthur, who was two at the time, became fascinated with butterflies, mispronouncing them as “buflies.” Martinez has been painting them ever since.

Sam Moyer: June 30 – September 29

Sam Moyer’s exhibition offers viewers an immersive experience into the artist’s practice. Spanning three galleries, the exhibition invites viewers into the range of Moyer’s application of stone and light as foundational materials across painting, sculpture, photography, and installation.

Julia Chiang: July 14 – October 13

The Parrish will present the first-ever solo museum exhibition by Julia Chiang, featuring varied scale paintings and ceramics, in which the artist explores organic forms and allegorical narratives. Chiang operates in the realm of abstractions, but the body is the basis for her metaphors and inquiries.

KAWS: July 14 – October 13

Known for transcending boundaries in the art world, KAWS has been exploring popular culture and human emotion over the last two decades through his refined graphic language and iconic cast of hybrid cartoon characters. The artist’s exhibition at the Parrish will show large-scale shaped canvases alongside a new series of never-before-seen paintings and bronze sculptures. This exhibition will be a reunion between artist and curator, as Mónica Ramírez-Montagut curated KAWS’ first solo museum exhibition at The Aldrich Contemporary Museum in 2010.

Other 2024 Exhibitions This Spring at the Parrish

“Across the Avenues: Fairfield Porter in New York:” February 18 – June 16

Composed of 23 paintings and four lithographic prints, this exhibition focuses on the cityscapes Fairfield Porter created of Manhattan between the mid-1940s to mid-1970s. Drawn from the museum’s vast Porter collection of over 240 works, “Across the Avenues: Fairfield Porter in New York” illuminates the artist’s ability to capture New York City’s bustling energy.

“Beyond the Horizon: Interpretations of the Landscape From Women in the Permanent Collection:” February 18–June 16

Spanning mural-sized representational oil paintings, expressionistic watercolor and pastel drawings, and intimate mixed-media abstractions, “Beyond the Horizon: Interpretations of the Landscape From Women in the Permanent Collection” takes viewers on a journey through visual styles and thematic experiences of the landscape.

“Simón Vega: Tropical Space Castaways:” February 25 – June 30

Salvadoran artist Simón Vega creates drawings, objects, sculptural installations, and happenings inspired by the streets and beaches of Central America. At the Parrish, Vega is presenting works that examine the castaway as a foreign, alien presence. Themes that are underscored in the exhibition include politics and the results of transcultural invasion and environmental exploitation; some of the most pressing issues in contemporary El Salvador.

2024 Student Exhibition: March 3 – April 7

The annual Student Exhibition, a tradition for over 70 years at the Parrish, features the work of more than 1,000 young artists from Eastern Long Island schools. Working with their art teachers, in after-school programs and art clubs, the students demonstrate creativity, enthusiasm, and technical skill in media spanning painting to sculpture, drawing, and photography.

“The Art of Food: From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation:” April 21 – June 30

“The Art of Food” focuses on food as an essential cultural component that builds communities and fortifies human relationships. More than 100 drawings, paintings, photographs, sculptures and ceramics by 37 artists from the Jordan D. Schnitzer Foundation will be exhibited, including David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Ed Ruscha, Alison Saar, Lorna Simpson, Andy Warhol, and Rachel Whiteread.

For more information about each artist and their exhibition, visit parrishart.org. Parrish Art Museum is at 279 Montauk Highway in Water Mill.