‘Curtain Call’ 

 Installation, Performance Art and Outdoor Sculpture
  Open to the Public: 2-6pm
Tour of Outdoor Sculptures: 3pm
Artist Reception: 4-6pm
 

‘Curtain Call,’ a group exhibition activates a formerly vacant factory space near the Peekskill waterfront.  The exhibition features performance and interactive artworks that flirt with the theatrical and are tied together by the Hudson Valley landscape. The event will include works by Z Behl, Andrea Bianconi, Pepe Coronado, David Cuateco, Patricia Kubin, James Mulvaney, and Marina Payne, with performances by Marcy B. Freedman and Chad Stayrook.  

Z Behl's theatrical prop-like paintings of freestanding, life-size painted characters enchant and lure viewers into a playful, modern tale that includes ships and mermaids mingling together in front of the Hudson River "backdrop." Viewers will have the opportunity to walk through the large-scale installation at the Riverfront or view the works through her  'Camera Obscura,' constructed inside a window of the factory space.  

From 2-6pm, Marcy B. Freedman will use Washington Irving's famous short story, “Rip Van Winkle,” as the starting point for a performance entitled “Once Upon a Time is Now,” where she invites members of the public to have one-on-one discussions with her.  The ensuing dialogs about past, present, and future will be incorporated by Freedman into her own version of the story to be recorded for a future sound piece.  Freedman’s ultimate goal is to provide members of the public with an antidote to the many virtual forms of communication – email, texting, blogging, and social networking – that are coming to dominate our interpersonal interactions.  

Artist James Mulvaney poses existential questions with his series of billboard-inspired sculptures.  His work "Anxiety from Freedom" allows viewers the opportunity to ponder the ways we define individualism in today's society in their own heads or engage with each other about the quandary.

 
Chad Stayrook will continue his project “An Adventure (in three parts)” with “Part 2: The Narration,” at 4-6pm, verbally recalling memories of his 5-day journey up the Hudson River in as much detail as possible. A harpist will be on hand to accompany the narration, and a tattoo artist will be giving Stayrook simple tattoos that were designed to represent each day of his journey.
 
Pepe Coronado’s “El Rio Como Vínculo / The River as a Link” is a collaborative project by Coronado and artists he invited from various communities along the Hudson River. The group has created a series of prints based on their experiences with the river. 

Another community-based work, Nestor Madalengoitia's mural of the Hudson River was inspired by the lyrics of Pete Seeger's "Clearwater."  Youth from the City of Beacon's Martin Luther King Center assisted Madalengoitia in the  completion of the painting.

The props from Andrea Bianconi’s “Postcard People” performance, which was staged in downtown Peekskill throughout the fall, will be on view.  This coincides with the screening of his video "Postcard People" in the HVCCA video room, which is also on view through July 28th.  

David Cuateco, Patricia Kubin and Marina Payne have each created their own wearable suits of armor out of materials that would have otherwise been discarded, and images of the artists in their creations will be presented alongside the creations.

The exhibition will be open to the public from 2-6pm on June 9th, then afterwards by appointment only through July 28th.  
 
At 3pm a tour will depart for the outdoor sculptures at Bohlman Park (corner of Main & Hadden St.), including a new work by Kai Vierstra.  Other artists who created outdoor works for this space include Charles Harlan, Oliver Jones, Brent Owens, and Marko Remec, whose works have been on view since Fall 2012. 

 

Nestor Madalengoitia’s mural, "Panoramic Peekskill," which depicts the City of Peekskill from an aerial view, can be seen on the exterior of the “Pasta Factory” at 1698 Main St., directly across from the HVCCA.
 
Our final series of PEEKSKILL PROJECT V works in the HVCCA Video Room will be on view from June 7th - July 28th,  including the artists Andrea Bianconi, Katrina Bello, Laleh Khorramian, and Camilo Rojas.

PEEKSKILL PROJECT is a citywide art festival devoted to bringing cutting edge contemporary art out of the museum and into the community.  PEEKSKILL PROJECT is an initiative of the HUDSON VALLEY CENTER for CONTEMPORARY ART.