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the Racquette
Arts & Entertainment
Feb. 12, 2016
Review: Potsdam Prints Gallery Plays with Perspective
Jay Petrequin
Arts & Entertainment Editor
When I entered the Gibson Art Gallery, two things stood out to me instantly. One was a giant beast with far more arms than it should have had, towering menacingly over a group of terrified combatant astronauts. The other was a blob of small, sudden gold brush strokes, shaped like two scoops of ice cream that had begun to melt into each other. The first of these pieces is “Homage to Burroughs,” a lithograph piece by Robert Nelson. The second is “Two Birds with One Stone,” a gold-leaf relief print created by Emily Sullivan Smith. Both of these works are different in form than they appear to be from a distance, a property that becomes a theme in the submissions at the “Potsdam Prints” exhibit. The gallery has three levels; visitors will enter, as I did, at the lowest one. The two pieces previously described dominate the wall directly opposite the door, and both require closer inspection to fully understand. “Two Birds One Stone,” as its name suggests, is actually a depiction of two birds, the color choice of soft gold suggesting baby chickens. “Homage to Burroughs,” meanwhile, uses cartoon text bubbles to transform the art. The giant monster, stylized in a manner reminiscent of Japanese Yokai, bears a stark contrast to the comic book spacemen in combat against it. The monster declares “COOL MENU” in the same powder blue of the spacemen, at odds with the dark red of the beast itself. This piece, a humorous demonstration of the contrast between cultural art styles, does an excellent job of drawing visitors in as soon as they enter. Unfortunately, the rest of the ground floor doesn’t do a very consistent job of packing that same sort of punch. These two pieces are nestled among a ring of works that play a lot more in the abstract. Pieces depicting dotted reds and
The Gibson Gallery opens its doors to the artistically-inclined.
greens, or carefully arranged black blotches, are all well composed and easy on the eyes, but are simply one too many to stay very interesting. This isn’t to say that every other piece on the floor falls victim to this pattern. “Sylvan Recliner” by Brett Anderson is a smaller piece with character and clear message, showing a humorous depiction of a classical Greek Satyr reclining to watch some television, a case of beer by his side as a Roomba putters about in the background. Also attention-getting from its place next to the staircase is Kristen Tordella-Williams’ “Shaker Tools,” the first-place winner of the “Potsdam Prints” contest. The impressive layer of depth at work here consists of a laser-etched woodblock print, cast onto pieces of handmade paper connected by thread. The image itself is of a tool bench, where tools sit carefully arranged, ignoring the dusty outlines demanding their return
Roxy Theater 20 Main St. Potsdam, NY 13676 (315)265-9630 Deadpool(108min) R 7:00, 9:20 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 12:45, 3:00 Tues-Thurs 2:00 Zoolander 2(102min) PG-13 7:00, 9:20 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 12:45, 3:00 Tues-Thurs 2:00 How to Be Single(110min) R 7:00, 9:20 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 12:45, 3:00 Tues-Thurs 2:00
to the wall behind them. The wood lines cutting horizontally through the image distort it to the faraway eye, coldly demanding that the viewer move in for a more intimate look. The second floor is a sort of side room at the corner of the staircase, almost feeling like a separate side-exhibit all its own. Adding to this feeling is the more purposeful sense of layout this second room gives off. Upon entering the room, the visitor is immediately faced with the brick-tone length of “Red Shaker Tools,”also by Kristen Tordella-Williams, which is a lengthy stretch of handmade paper bearing a print identical to the award-winning one below it: a twin to the award-winner below. What is really visually appealing about this room is its variety and sense of symmetry, the latter of which is exemplified along one wall so much that the presentation becomes part of the artwork. The selection of works unite to form one larger piece. A detailed depicAmerican Theater Main St Canton, NY 13617 (315)386-2981
tion of a bowl of white beans sits nestled in between two different works of bright warm-toned oranges, both using thick blotches of color to render themselves. These two are bookended by a pair of works consisting mostly of blues. Viewers standing back and looking at the arrangement from a distance may sense that the paintings all become parts of a larger piece of art. The top floor, a line of paintings running the length of the balcony overlooking the ground floor, may seem almost like an afterthought to the wayward visitor. Here too, though, are some intentional choices in layout. Nearly all of these pieces have very little use of color, creating a mostly monochrome span broken only in the center. This centermost work is the only piece here with usage of bright colors. The colorful piece of art that becomes the focus here is secondplace winner “Hand of Intuition” by Brett Anderson. This colorful and busy relief print depicts a blackMassena Movieplex 116 Harte Haven Plaza, Massena, NY 13662
Zoolander 2 (102min) PG-13 7:00, 9:20 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 12:45, 3:00 Tues-Thurs 1:00
Deadpool (108min) R 7:00, 9:20 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 12:45, 3:00 Tues-Thurs 1:30
How to Be Single (110min) R 7:00, 9:20 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 12:45, 3:00 Tues-Thurs 1:00
Zoolander 2 (102min) PG-13 7:00, 9:20 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 12:45, 3:00 Tues-Thurs 1:30
The Choice (111min) PG-13 7:00, 9:30 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 12:30, 3:00 Tues-Thurs 1:00
How to Be Single(110min) R 7:00, 9:20 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 12:45, 3:00 Tues-Thurs 1:30
The Met Live: ENCORE Puccini Turnadot Sun 2/14 6:30 pm
Kung Fu Panda 3 2D (95min) PG 7:00 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 12:45, 3:00 Tues-Thurs 1:00
The Choice(111min) PG-13 7:00, 9:30 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 12:30, 3:00 Tues-Thurs 1:30
CINEMA 10 presentation: Taxi Tehran Mon 2/15 7:15 pm
The Revenant (156min) 9:00 Nightly
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (108min) PG-13 6:50 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 12:45
New at the Movies Feb. 12, 2016 Admission is $9.00 per person $6.00 child 12 & under / senior 62 & over Matinees General Admission $6.50 $6.00 child 12 & under / senior 62 & over 3D films are an additional $2.00 per ticket
Marcus Wolf
Dirty Grandpa (102min) R 7:00, 9:15 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 3:00 Tues-Thurs 2:00 No 7:00 Show Sun 2/14 Kung Fu Panda 3 2D (95min) PG 7:00 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 12:45, 3:00 Tues-Thurs 2:00* No 7:00 Show Mon 2/15 Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (108min) PG-13 9:00 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 12:45 No 9:00 Show Sun 2/14
R
Deadpool (108min) R 7:00, 9:20 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 12:45, 3:00 Tues-Thurs 1:00
and-blue hand out of someone’s nightmares, contrasting well against a background of toxic yellow and pea soup green. The hand looks more monstrous than the Yokai-esque beast downstairs; its palm splits open grotesquely, bearing white fangs riddled with veins of cadmium red. Each of its fingers bears an eyeball and varying other features, such as antlers, or arms throwing out an ironic peace sign. The viciousness conveyed by this piece is absolute; it intimidates viewers and pulls them in all at once. The visual busyness at the center of this floor does have a drawback, though; “Hand of Intuition” draws attention away from the rest of the work on display around it. It’s not just the contrast of color to blame, but rather that this factor is combined with the chaotic nature of “Hand of Intuition,” when compared with the relative calm of a profile sketch of a woman’s face, or the white-on-blue aquatint of the view from a New York City metro. A personal favorite is affixed at the far end of the line, facing the viewer from the far end of the balcony. This is Cynthia Osborne’s “Keeping Up with the Joneses,” a piece depicting an arrangement of men in 1920s garb, who upon closer inspection are actually a careful arrangement of multiple copies of the same three figures. The “Potsdam Prints” exhibit is an interesting and worthwhile exhibition of art from the SUNY Potsdam community, and not just for the individual pieces of art; the planning of the exhibit itself reminds viewers that there is an art to presentation as much as there is an art to … well, art. Although not without pieces that fail to leave an impression, the gallery plays host to plenty of eye-popping pieces of work. The “Potsdam Prints” exhibit is running at the Gibson Art Gallery from Feb. 4 to March 26. 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (144min) R 9:00 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 3:00 Tues-Thurs 1:30 Kung Fu Panda 3 2D (95min) PG 7:00 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 12:45, 3:00 Tues-Thurs 1:30 Kung Fu Panda 3 in 3D (95min) PG 9:00 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 1:00 The 5th Wave (113min) 6:50 Nightly Matinees
PG-13
Dirty Grandpa (102min) R 9:15 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 3:00 Tues-Thurs 1:30 The Finest Hours 2D (117min) PG-13 6:50 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 12:30 The Boy (97min) PG-13 9:15 Nightly Matinees Sat, Sun, Mon 3:00 Tues-Thurs 1:30