The Ark Sets Sail in Sag Harbor

On Saturday, June 21, The Church in Sag Harbor opens The Ark, its 2025 summer exhibition curated by Eric Fischl, with a reception from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Admission is free and the show will remain on view through September 1.

This exhibition us part of The Ark Community Project, and simultaneously on Saturday, June 21, the Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum will be unveiling a marine animal-themed art show as the annual “Calm Before the Storm Party” on the museum lawn from 5 to 7 p.m.

The Ark refers directly to the myth of the Deluge: an event of such apocalyptic scale, forewarned, unheeded and unstoppable, that it appeared it would be the end of all life on Earth. However, through human resourcefulness, will and compassion, the Great Flood marked a new beginning, a do-over … a rebirth. Composed solely of animal sculptures by over 40 international artists of the last century, the exhibition looks closely at man’s relationship with animals, nature, and self.

“These works explore themes of beauty, empathy, vulnerability, desperation, tenderness, and connection to both the otherness of animals in the wildness of nature and a mirroring metaphor for the interior world of Self,” writes Fischl. “The works are, for the most part, handmade, which further highlights the complexity of our experience of both the art object created and the emotional urgency one feels through its maker.”

The exhibition will feature robust and unique programming that has become a hallmark of The Church. The show will also extend to the outdoors, featuring several works throughout the garden. In tune with a thematic element of connection and the resourcefulness of working together, as well as The Church’s commitment to fostering creativity on the East End and celebrating Sag Harbor’s living legacy, The Ark will also include a collaboration with the Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum of a community-wide art project to decorate and enliven a large wooden ark, to be displayed on the front lawn of the Whaling Museum concurrently through the summer. The project will unite people of all ages through art, allowing them to creatively add to the ark with paint, sculpture, and other fun projects.

Of particular note, the exhibition will be the first time that The Church will use its outdoor deck, adjacent to the mezzanine level — which will be the site for Louise Bourgeois’s “Spider Couple,” 2003, an iconic, 12-foot sculpture that marks the first time one of these celebrated works will be shown at an arts institution on the East End.

Finally, the exhibition will be accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue, featuring all of the works in the show as well as text contributions by many of the artists, designed and produced by Pointed Leaf Press.

Artists to be featured are: Monica Banks, Louise Bourgeois, Rembrandt Bugatti, Deborah Butterfield, Joan Brown, Maurizio Cattelan, Thomas Deininger, Jim Dine, William Edmondson, Angus Fairhurst, Daniel Firman, Elizabeth Frink, Jean-François Gambino, Brendan Hemsmondhalgh, Nicola Hicks, Bryan Hunt, Jörd Immendorf, Ryan Johnson, William Kent, William Kentridge, Sherrie Levine, Sarah Lucas, Kate MccGwire, Allan McCollum, Mentawai people, Bruce Nauman, John O’Reilly, Charles Ray, Germaine Richier, Jane Rosen, Susan Rothenberg, Claudette Schreuders, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Kiki Smith, Anthony Theakston, Nichola Theakston, Catherine Thiry, Rosemarie Trockel, William Tucker, Patrick Villas and Daisy Youngblood.

The Church is at 48 Madison Street in Sag Harbor. For details visit thechurchsagharbor.org.