Steven Ladd And William Ladd To Speak About Alan Shields’ Work During Hamptons Artist To Artist Talk

Parrish collection artists Steven Ladd and William Ladd, who had a residency at the Water Mill-based museum back in 2015, are returning on Friday, February 2 to host back to back gallery talks. This highly anticipated event is so popular that the initial lecture sold out well in advance, so the Parrish Art Museum added a second opportunity to hear from the artists who often blur the lines between design and fashion, fine art and craft.

During the lecture, the fraternal collaborative team will discuss the work of Alan Shields, sharing personal and professional insight about the artist, who has resided and worked on Shelter Island since the 1970s. Like Shields, an artist who works with textiles and the needle arts, the Ladds, also focus on non-traditional materials such as fabric, belts, beads, and paper.

“I’m excited to hear the Ladd brothers talk about Shields and how his work influenced their own work,” said Corinne Erni, Senior Curator, Special Projects and ArtsReach.

Currently, the Parrish has devoted an entire gallery to Shields’ pieces, which is where the Artist to Artist seated talk will take place. The museum’s Alan Shields: Common Threads includes 13 works that takes viewers through three decades of Shields’ career, with pieces that encompass the use of yarn, thread, rickrack, machine stitching, beads, and other materials. For Devil, Devil, Love, created in 1970, the artist interweaved strips of cotton belting accentuated with thread and beads to make the 96 x 194 inch grid, while for Worm Tacks Threw Loose Latitudes, created in 1997, he used thread as a medium for drawing. In addition to the eye-catching works, the exhibition features a fully illustrated catalogue with an essay by Alicia G. Longwell, The Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Chief Curator at the Parrish.

The Ladd’s works on paper can also be viewed at the Parrish, in the museum’s permanent collection exhibition, Five and Forward.

The Ladd brothers and Shields were also exhibited simultaneously back in 2014, when the Parrish presented Steven and William Ladd: Mary Queen of the Universe, which included sculpture, drawings, and prints, and Alan Shields: In Motion, which showcased sculpture, installations, works on paper and canvas, and stop-frame animations.

“Artists often reveal much about themselves by talking about other artists as they shed light on a particular creative process,” Erni added.

Admission is $12, and free for members, children, and students.

Parrish Art Museum is located at 279 Montauk Highway in Water Mill. For more information, call 631-283-2118 or visit parrishart.org.