New York Academy Of Art Memorializes The East End’s Intrinsic Connection To Water

This summer season, Southampton Arts Center will host WATER|BODIES, an exhibition presented by the New York Academy of Art. The show is co-curated by artist Eric Fischl and Academy President David Kratz. Sponsored by Cadogan Tate, the exhibition is on view from Thursday, June 23rd to Sunday, July 31st.

WATER|BODIES will showcase 67 paintings, drawings, photographs, and sculptures that explore bodies of water on the East End, including pools, beaches, the seas, as well as sunbathers, fishermen, swimmers, sailors, and surfers. The Hamptons so greatly revolve around the beautiful oceans and bodies of water that surround them. This exhibit certainly celebrates everything to do with water and those who relish in it. A few of the artists celebrated in WATER|BODIES include David Salle, Patrick Demarchelier, April Gornik, Michael Halsband, Ross Bleckner, Eric Fischl, and many more.

“Sandy Dunes” by Alexis Hilliard and “Wading (Pink)” by Isca Greenfield-Sanders. (Courtesy Photos)

“Eric Fischl has been an inspiration to the New York Academy of Art as a Senior Critic, board member and artist since its early days,” Kratz explained. “I was thrilled to have the chance to work with him on a show that examines this aspect of life on the East End where we have both lived for many years. And what could be better than staging it right in the middle of Southampton at the height of summer in the glorious galleries of the Southampton Arts Center?”

“Water|Bodies is another example of the ongoing vitality of the artistic community that visits, lives and works throughout the East End and which has for more than a century been a consistent source of inspiration and spiritual discovery,” remarked Eric Fischl.

The New York Academy of Art was founded in 1982 by artists, scholars, and patrons of the arts, including the infamous Andy Warhol. It is a non-for-profit education and cultural institution, combining training in drawing, painting, and sculpture.

All are invited to the opening reception on Saturday, July 2nd from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Southampton Arts Center.

“It is our hope that the audience will enjoy and be moved by the breadth of stylistic interpretation and the layers of meaning, metaphor and archetypes these talented artists have been able to capture and express,” said Fischl. “The themes in the show revolve around bodies of water or bodies in water. Nature is expressed as the vast expanse and power of the sea or the contained and domesticated nature of swimming pools. The fear and awe that nature instills in us with its turbulence and uncertainty ….. currents and undercurrents of psychological urgency, emotional truth as well as pleasure and play …. render vividly our deep fears of submersion and dissolution or tap into our longing for immersion and merging that reveal our desire to be cleansed.”

Southampton Arts Center is located at 25 Jobs Lane in Southampton. For more information, call 631-283-0967 or visit southamptonartscenter.org.