ArtBeat: What To See

Eco Primitive / Eco Surreal @ Albany Center Gallery, Albany. Two self-taught regional emerging artists who have been generating quite a bit of buzz: Thomas D’Ambrose uses vintage wallpaper and found canvases to create colorful, stylized primitive representations of jungle animals, while RADICAL! works primarily in drawing and assemblage to create surreal works of social commentary. Receptions: Friday, January 7 6-8pm and Friday February 4, 6-8pm in congruence with Albany First Friday. (Through February 12)

Gracia Dayton @ Harrison Gallery, Williamstown. Colorful, virbrant watercolors of nature scenes. Opens January 8. Opening reception: Saturday, January 8, 5-7pm. (Through January 31)

Vincent Ciniglio: Paintings @ John Davis Gallery, Hudson. Figurative oil paintings, sometimes whimsical, sometimes foreboding. Opens January 6. Opening reception: Saturday, January 8, 6-8pm. (Through January 30)

Stillness @ The Sand Lake Center for the Arts, Averill Park. A solo show of Tom Chesnut’s wilderness photography. Opens January 1. Artist reception: Sunday January 16, 1-3pm. Under The Influence @ Upstate Artists Guild, Albany. Group show featuring works inspired by famous paintings or created in the style of a famous artist. Featured artist: Wren Panzella. Opening reception: Friday, January 7, part of Albany First Friday. (Through January 28)

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The Imaged Word @ Albany International Airport Gallery, Albany. An exhibition of artwork that responds to the material qualities of books and the passages contained within them. Artists include Fern Apfel, Gabe Brown, Gayle Johnson, Paul Katz, Scott McCarney, Amy Podmore, Fawn Potash, William Ransom, Aaron T. Stephan, Robert The and Barbara Todd. (Through January 9, 2011)

Alyson Belcher: Self @ Galerie BMG, Woodstock. Photographic self-portraits using pinhole photography and Improvisational performance. As Belcher states,

The element of time in pinhole photography allows something to arise that might never be revealed by modern photographic technology. The long exposure times give me an opportunity to explore the space in front of the camera. I may have the impulse to move, or I may choose to remain still-although the body is never completely still, and even the smallest movements leave traces on the film.

(Through January 11)

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Paper and Light @ The Berkshire Museum. Henry Klimowicz has transformed the Wider Window Gallery with a site-specific installation extending vertically across the gallery’s two-story window composed of disused cardboard that has been carefully re-configured and arranged to highlight the interplay between natural light and the artwork. Also at the museum is a small exhibit of historical items from its own collection and from the Crane Museum of Papermaking presenting a practical history of the work of Crane & Co. through the years. Part of The Housatonic Paper Trail. (Through January 16)

Snow White @ Carrie Haddad Photographs, Hudson. A group exhibit featuring work by ten photographers centered on the subjects of snow, ice, winter scenes – both real and fantastical – and other views encompassing varying shades of white. Exhibiting photographers include Valerie Hammond, Ida Weygandt, Michael Sibilia, Kahn & Selesnick, John Griebsch, Jefferson Hayman, Karen Cunningham, Lisa Frank, Holly Northrop and Lependorf & Shire. (Through January 16)

The Strange, The Surreal And The Sentimental @ Davey Jones Gallery, Albany. Group show featuring Euna Goh, Laura Holmes, Amanda Kates and John Stack. (Through January 21) Dreams and Vessels @ NAACA Gallery, North Adams. A large group show by this coop gallery, as well as a large selection of gift items. Each Thursday of December, the gallery along with other Main Street, Eagle Street and Holden Street merchants will feature special events, as part of “Hometown Holidays” and will stay open until 8 pm. (Through January 24)

Uncertain Spectator @ EMPAC, Troy. A group show that grapples with the feelings of anxiety, uncertainty, unease and apprehension that currently permeate our culture. Featuring Graciela Carnevale, Anthony Discenza, Claire Fontaine, Kate Gilmore, Tue Greenfort, Susanna Hertrich, Jesper Just, Marie Sester, Superflex and Jordan Wolfson, the exhibit includes works spanning the genres of video, installation, sculpture, and interactive media. (Through January 29)

Daughters of Aspasia: Photo Artistry of Jeri Eisenberg & Gail Nadeau @ The Photo Center of the Capital Region, Troy. Aspasia was the very influential consort of Pericles during the Golden Age of Greece, about 440 BC, during which the Parthenon was built and the arts and economies flourished. This exhibit is the first of a series of shows designed to showcase the creative works of regional women artists. Artist reception: Friday January 28, 5-9pm. (Through January 30) Material World: Sculpture to Environment @ MASS MoCA, North Adams. Site specific installations using elements not typically thought of as artistic materials. Artists include Michael Beutler, Orly Genger, Tobias Putrih, Alyson Shotz, Dan Steinhilber, Wade Kavanaugh and Stephen B. Nguyen. (Through February 27).

The Jewel Thief @ The Tang Teaching Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs. Abstract art by over fifty contemporary artists from the Tang’s collection, including Kathy Butterly, Dorothy Dehner, Bill Komoski, Michael Lazarus, Charles Long, Allan McCollum, and Ann Pibal, alongside recent works by artists including Cheryl Donegan, Roy Dowell, Rico Gatson, Joanne Greenbaum, Liz Larner, Virgil Marti, Carrie Moyer, Richard Rezac, and John Torreano, among many others. (Through February 27)

Petah Coyne: Everything That Rises Must Converge @ MASS MocA, North Adams. This sentence says it all: “Her innovative use of materials includes dead fish, mud, sticks, black sand, old car parts, wax, satin ribbons, artificial flowers and birds, birdcages, and most recently, taxidermy animals, Madonna statues, and horsehair.” ($6 | Free for members) (Through February)

In a Labyrinth: The Dance of Butoh @ The National Museum of Dance, Saratoga Springs. Photographer Michael Manheim’s exhibition of professional Butoh dancers – a dance genre stemming from post-war Japan. (Through March)

The Strange World of Albrecht Dürer @ The Clark, Williamstown. The strange world of Albrecht Dürer, populated by monsters, witches, hybrid animals, and marauding soldiers, shares spiritual and social preoccupations with our own time. Drawn entirely from the Clark’s extensive holdings, the display will feature approximately seventy-five works by the celebrated German Renaissance painter, printmaker and writer. (Through March 13)

Suzanne Bocanegra: I Write the Songs and Paula Hayes: Understory @ The Tang Teaching Museum, Saratoga Springs. Helping to launch the Tang’s 10th anniversary year, Suzanne Bocanegra is exhibiting walls works, sound and video installations and a new work that combines live dance and recorded sound (through January 2, 2011). Paula Hayes has transformed the Tang’s Payne Room into an immersive environment brimming with life, including a forest of large silicone planters housing small trees, a series of her hand-blown grass terrariums and new custom-designed wallpaper and dinnerware. (Through April 17)

Witness: The Art of Jerry Pinkney @ Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge. Opening Saturday, November 13, the first major retrospective exhibition of the award-winning children’s book illustrator and designer will feature more than 140 watercolor illustrations spanning his 50-year career, touching on such personal and cultural themes as the African-American experience, the wonders of classic literature and the wisdom in well-loved folk tales. (Through May 30)

Katharina Grosse: One Floor Up More Highly @ MASS MoCA, North Adams. Katharina Grosse’s new installation fills with massive Building 5 gallery with her largest commission to date. Cool video here showing the ingenious way the MASS MoCA folks managed to get 700 cubic yards of soil into Building 5. (Through October 30)