Parrish Art Museum To Hold Final Artist-Lead Tours As Part Of “Artists Choose Artists”

An exciting opportunity for the public at the Parish Art Museum in Water Mill is coming to a close. The Artists Choose Artists programs will culminate with two intimate talks throughout the galleries that will explain the importance and meaning behind each unique work of art, which you will hear directly from the artist. Monica Banks, Garrett Chingery, Saskia Friedrich, Jackie Black, Marianne Weil, and Almond Zigmund will reflect on their works and the process behind each one featured in the Artists Choose Artists exhibition during the final two Artists Choose Artists gallery talks. Artists Choose Artists provides a celebration for artists located on the East End of Long Island and ties together the dynamic relationships found in the creative community. This ongoing exhibit will be on display until Monday, January 16th.

Jackie Black. (Photo: Daniel Gonzalez)

“The gallery talks, much in keeping with the Parrish’s mission, will illuminate the creative process of the artists,” said Corinne Erni, Curator of Special Projects. “It will give the visitor the opportunity to look at the exhibition with a deeper understanding of the individual works.”

On Friday, January 6th, Monica Banks, Garrett Chingery, and Saskia Friedrich will be featured in a gallery talk.

Monica Banks is exhibiting seven sculptures from her Big and Small Moments series. “In choosing the appropriate plinth on which to assemble these elements, I want to honor the experiences they evoke,” explained Banks. “Using cakes as pedestals for sculpture makes them domestic monuments to our existence. They celebrate the moments of grief, despair, euphoria, and wonder that make up our daily lives.”

The human figure fascinates Garrett Chingery, who has two paintings, Sport and The Builder, on display at the Parrish. “I seek to not merely render a physical likeness, but more importantly, to reveal an internal portrait of my subjects,” Chingery noted. “My painting concerns itself with the human psyche, the notion of self.”

Saskia Friedrich’s site-specific installation, Stars, features fabric cutouts. “I like to think of my work as a question that the viewer answers, simply by being present with it for a moment,” said Friedrich. “My work is an exploration of how we relate and coexist with each other and our world.

The gallery talks will continue on Friday, January 13th with Jackie Black, Marianne Weil, and Almond Zigmund.

Jackie Black’s Last Meal is a photographic series to explores the last meal requested by a death row prisoner, while The Gun Show series covers a fascination with firearms. “My work is an examination of mortality,” said Black. “I use photography because of its ability to stop time,” Black noted. “Mortality and photography stop time. An object becomes iconic. A meal conjures memories. Looking at mortality encourages and engenders a love of life and appreciation for living and enjoying each moment.”

Marianne Weil uses textured, twisted metal enveloped in smooth, curving glass to create her sculptures. “My studio practice generates a continuing narrative, one of unearthing memories and untapped recollections,” Weil explained. “The complexity of my work is like orchestrating a symphony where many parts compose the whole, casting first bronze using the lost wax process then cast glass. Captured together, copper, cast glass, and bronze reveal their unique strengths and weaknesses.”

Almond Zigmund created Primaried Structures, a new, sits work strive-specific installation, for Artists Choose Artists. “My work is architectonic in nature and tends to engage the eye and body at once, offering generous amounts of visual stimulation while also inducing visceral reactions to the virtual and actual spaces the viewer inhabits,” she shared. “Through my work I strive to sharpen perceptions of space while exploring the nature of opposition. I aim to make my work contemplative.”

Admission is $12 per galley talk, but free for members, children, and students. Both talks begin at 6 p.m.

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