Artist Eric Dever To Share His Perception Of “Parrish Perspectives: New Works In Context”

Artist Eric Never will lead a gallery talk at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill on Friday, April 21 at 6 p.m.

New to the Parrish (though not new to the art world, at all), Never will be discussing the Museum’s Parrish Perspectives: New Works in Context. The exhibition, on view at the Parrish from Sunday, March 12 through Sunday, April 23, is a collection of 70 works from more than 300 acquisitions added to the Museum’s collection over the last four years. The event gives a unique chance to analyze the collection and hear about the featured art from the perspective of an artist.

“It’s always amazing to look at paintings through the eyes of an artist, especially one as thoughtful and articulate as Eric,” explained Alicia Longwell, the Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Chief Curator, Art and Education.

The gallery talk is organized in four themes: Representing Abstraction, Humor and Irony, Horizon Lines, and Face to Face.

“The exhibition itself presents a masterful conversation between artworks,” explained Dever. “I look forward to highlighting these relationships, while examining content, abstraction, media and technology, and the broadening of the Museum’s collection.”

Representing Abstraction is a collection geared towards revealing both the physical and philosophical perceptions of artists. From where do artists channel these two facets into their work?

Humor and Irony, as the name suggests, presents pieces of art that present the wit, perplexity and duality that can exist in a single piece of work. Elie Nadelman takes small plaster figurines and combines them with the quirky Kewpie dolls and mythological goddesses.

Horizon Lines touches upon the idea that remains pervasive in the art world. This topic encompasses art featuring sea and sky, man vs. nature, and more.

Face to Face takes the concept of portraits and flips it upside down. Artists such as Till Freiwald take items such as martini glasses and cats to create character portraits, while other artists take portraiture for face value in documenting children on the brink of adolescence.

“I know it will be a wonderful evening with plenty of time for questions and conversation,” added Longwell.

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

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