From LONG ISLAND – by Ann Parry (ann-parry.com)
July 16, 2019

Deciding to take advantage of the nice-in-the-shade weather the first weekend in July, my friend Bob and I went to the Nassau County Museum of Art on Sunday, the last day of its “That 80s Show” exhibit. I also looked forward to seeing Animodules at the Manes Center, and new outdoor sculptures by conceptual artist Marko Remec. 

• Click each photo to see a different, related image

After parking, we walked up the path leading to the Saltzman Fine Art Building, when I saw Pamela, a friend and fellow photographer, a few yards away from us, chatting with someone as they headed toward the parking lot. 

After getting Pamela’s attention, we laughed… for ever since the exhibit opened, we’d planned to see it, but weather and scheduling conflicts got in our way. Now, serendipity had landed us at the same space at the same time, so we could at least capture a few photos by the “Girl on a Bicycle” (1964) sculpture by Bruno Lucchesi.

That 80s Show

After renewing my membership, I entered a spacious gallery hung with five huge paintings and a few smaller, though not small, ones.  [See above photo]

Since the gallery was part of the “That 80s Show” exhibit, it wasn’t chance the artists and I shared birthdays within about ten years of each other.

Two of the artists died at tragically young ages, and, as I feared, it was of tragically times-related causes. Jean-Michel Basquiat was only 27 when he died in 1984 of a heroin overdose. Tseng Kwong Chil was only 40 when he died in 1990 of an AIDS-related illness – which, near the same time, stole my much missed, musically gifted brother in his thirties. 

More than once, I was struck how visitors looking at artwork impacted, even transformed, the experience. The above photo of a man looking at works from the “Men in the Cities” series by Robert Longo is one example, and a different man near a different lithograph by Robert Longo is another.

Animodules

Animodules – an original urban art form of nonviolent super heroes – were on display both inside and outside the Manes Center. They filled the large room with a positive, vibrant energy.

These Agents of Peace were first created at the Barat Foundation, a non profit in Newark, New Jersey.

Animodules Mission: “Transforming lives and communities through collaborative public art to promote peace, social justice, diversity, and beautification of public space.” 

This is the first museum exhibition for Animodules, and it runs through to September 15, 2019. 

Final Reflections

Perhaps in part because I’m fond of (literally) shiny things, I’m a fan of Marko Remec’s three outdoor sculptures commissioned by the Nassau County Museum of Art.

Remec’s “The Vertebrate Progression (Field Totem)” was a short make-your-own-path walk from the Manes Center, and typically would be viewed from the road, where one wouldn’t notice a couple of dome mirrors were damaged and some were removed from the end.

The convex dome mirrors of the other two sculptures – the 26-foot-tall “Would That I Wish For (Tall Totem)” [see feature photo at top of this post] and the horizontal “NYET” – were fine off the ground on well-beaten paths.

Even if the sweaty-in-the-open-field weather didn’t stop me from spending quite as much time as I’d like to capture far and close up views of the Field Totem, I’d want to return with my Nikon during each of the seasons.

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Feature Photo at top of post:  Roslyn, New York, U.S. July 7, 2019. “Would That I Wish For (Tall Totem)” 26-foot-tall sculpture was created, and installed in front of the Arnold and Joan Saltzman Fine Art Building, by artist Marko Remec, at the Nassau County Museum of Art, which commissioned the work.

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