CENTER FOR CURATORIAL STUDIES MUSEUM AT BARD COLLEGE SCHEDULES THREE FALL EXHIBITIONS OPENING SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 26

Exhibitions Include "Calendar 2000," a Millennial Project Produced by Over 200 Artists; "Synthesia," a Collaboration between Kiki Smith and Margaret DeWys; and "snapshots," by Felix Gonzalez-Torres on View through December 17.

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.-The Center for Curatorial Studies Museum at Bard College is scheduling three fall exhibitions. The exhibitions are "Calendar 2000," a millennial project that focuses on the creation of calendars for the year 2000 by over 200 artists; "Synesthesia," a collaboration between artist Kiki Smith and composer and Bard alumna Margaret DeWys; and "snapshots," a selection of snapshots which the artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres sent to friends and colleagues. The exhibitions will open Sunday, September 26, with a reception from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., and remain on view through Friday, December 17. The Center for Curatorial Studies is open to the public without charge Wednesday to Sunday, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Over 200 artists have contributed an original work on paper to create the series of calendars for "Calendar 2000." Each monthly image has been created by a contemporary artist, including such well-established figures as Vito Acconci, Louise Bourgeois, Larry Clark, Robert Gober, Yayoi Kusama, Glenn Ligon, and Sol LeWitt; and emerging artists such as Jessica Bronson, Teresita Fernandez, Tobias Rehberger, and Sarah Sze. The calendars will be exhibited at the CCS Museum then the exhibition will be on view at other arts institutions in the United States. The exhibition has been jointly organized by the CCS Museum and Art For Art's Sake, an organization based in New York City that supports small not-for-profit institutions. In addition to being an exhibition, "Calendar 2000" is also a fundraiser, as each of the calendars will be sold to collectors. The proceeds will support the exhibition programs of the CCS Museum and Art for Art's Sake.

"Synesthesia," a collaborative exhibition by Kiki Smith and Margaret DeWys, is based on a series of printed drawings by Smith entitled "The Familiars." The series, according to Smith, depicts the vulnerable yet strong demeanor of girls on the edge of sexual maturity. Alongside the girls are images of cats, wolves, deer, and other animals, which appear, according to Smith, "like witches and their consorts." The large scale drawings range in size, from 10 by 15 feet to 10 by 30 feet, will cover the CCS galleries. This is the first time that all the drawings will be shown together as a series.

"The sound pieces are designed to function in synesthetic relation to Kiki's visual images and to the architectural space of the drawings." explains composer Margaret DeWys. "They will be based on visual clues in the drawings." There will also be a continuous projection of Peter Hutton's black and white film "the Moon," which is a dreamy portrayal of the clouds at night with a haunting, echoing soundtrack by DeWys.

DeWys and Smith have been colleagues and friends for fifteen years, collaborating in 1994 for "on the table, inc.," an international exhibition of handmade music boxes in conjunction with Reuge Music in Switzerland.

About the Artists:

Margaret DeWys, a Bard alumna (what year?) studied with Joan Tower and has had premieres of her work performed by the St. Louis Symphony, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, and the Rosalind Newman Dance Company, among others. Her compositions have also been performed at The Kitchen, Sounds from the Left Bank, Aaron Copland School of Music, and the Sonic Boom Festival in New York City. She has been the featured composer at the International Seminar of the Arts in Warsaw, Poland; the Ninth Congress of Women in Music in Vienna, Austria; and the International Women's Day in Beijing, China. DeWys has written music for film, video, and dance.

Kiki Smith is one of the most prominent contemporary artists to have emerged in the 1980's. Smith's sculptures, installations, and drawings feature the human body as painfully vulnerable but ultimately resilient. Known as a figurative artist, Smith has stated, "I think I chose the body as a subject, not consciously, but because it is the one form we all share; it's something that everybody has their own authentic experience with."

Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957-1996) sent the photographs in "snapshots" to friends and colleagues of images, ranging from humorous tableaux created with toys he collected, to evocative scenes of birds flying among the clouds that related to his artwork. Gonzalez-Torres often wrote personal notes, poems, or other musings on the reverse of many of these photographs which provide insight into an artist who blurred the distinctions between private life and the public realm in his work. Considered one of the most influential artists of his generation, Gonzalez-Torres used everyday materials in his work to speak of love, loss, and memory. His work has been exhibited in numerous institutions in the United States and abroad and was the subject of a travelling exhibition jointly organized by The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, and The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago. The Solomon Guggenheim Museum in New York City presented a survey exhibition of his work in 1995. Gonzalez-Torres was born in Guaimaro, Cuba, and raised in Puerto Rico. He lived in New York until his death in 1996. This exhibition is made possible by Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz.

The Center for Curatorial Studies is open to the public without charge Wednesday to Sunday, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. For further information about the exhibitions call 914-758-7598 or e-mail [email protected].

This event was last updated on 03-02-2001

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