50+ Artist-Made Chairs on View at ArtsWestchester’s Gallery in White Plains

ArtsWestchester announced the list of 50+ contemporary artists who will be exhibiting artwork as part of a fall exhibition exploring the creativity, forms and art of seating.  At center stage in ArtsWestchester’s latest exhibit entitled, The Chair Show is the chair, endlessly recast as luxurious or austere, regal or intimate, straightforward or ironic. Chairs give shape to the ways in which we rest and recreate ourselves in private, or inhabit ‘seats of power’ in public. As supporting players of day-to-day existence, focal points of ceremonies, or revered objects of spiritual and sacred spaces, chairs are invested with diverse meanings and purposes.

The familiarity and suggestive associations of chairs make them attractive subjects for many contemporary artists. Some artists create aesthetically compelling utilitarian objects, while others have all but gutted the old Bauhaus directive of ‘form follows function.’

What is it about chairs and seating that inspires so many different forms and materials?  Janet T. Langsam, CEO of ArtsWestchester explains, “Chairs are dependable, familiar, everyday objects, but many artists in our show are looking at chairs as if for the first time.  Our open call was met with overwhelming response from regional artists and designers working in different media. You’ll see three-dimensional works made from carved, bent or painted wood; metals, fabrics, and various recycled materials; paintings, photographs, and video and multi-media installations.”  She continues, “Some artists play with size, scale and unexpected proportions and shapes; some use the chair as a canvas on which to paint and conjure a whole world, either familiar or imaginary.”

The Chair Show, on view in ArtsWestchester’s Gallery from October 1 – October 19, includes sculptural, conceptual, functional and dysfunctional forms of seating, as well as paintings and installations inspired by chairs.  The works, chosen by an open call and curatorial invitation, represent more than 50 artists from the regional artistic community.  (See list below.)

Curator and docent tours of The Chair Show are available for groups of six or more. For more information, or to book your group tour, please contact Gallery Curator Amy Kurlander at akurlander@ArtsWestchester.org. Suggested donation: $10/person

An Opening Reception will be held on Saturday, September 28, from 3-5pm. Meet exhibiting artists and enjoy light bites and beverages. Donations welcome. RSVP* encouraged to Lhanley@artswestchester.org

On Thursday, October 10 from 5:30-7:30pm, you can take a look at The Chair Show after hours during a curator’s happy hour and gallery tour and artist talk. Part of the Gallery Nite Out series of artistic and engaging networking events in ArtsWestchester’s downtown White Plains gallery. Purchase tickets at artsw.org/galleryniteout

The Chair Show Exhibiting Artists Include:

1. Orpheus Acosta (Baldwin Place, NY)
2. Michael Amato (Connecticut)
3. Marta Baumiller (Aquebogue, NY)
4. Ada Blecher (Brooklyn, NY)
5. Amanda Browder (Brooklyn, NY)
6. April Chong (Oakland Gardens, NY)
7. B.A. D’Alessandro (White Plains, NY)
8. Dale Douglas (Ridgewood, NY)
9. Joseph M. Dunn (New York, NY)
10. James Fawcett (Highland, NY)
11. Jude Ferencz (Cazenovia, NY)
12. Christopher Flick (Bronx, NY)
13. Betsy Gorman (Valatie, NY)
14. Rose Jennifer Griffin (White Plains, NY)
15. Carmella Gullo (Brooklyn, NY)
16. Leah Harper (Brooklyn, NY)
17. Susan Rowe Harrison (Dobbs Ferry, NY)
18. Sarah Haviland (Crompond, NY)
19. Asher Israelow (NYC)
20. Jeff Johnson (Poughkeepsie, NY)
21. Amanda Kelly (Brooklyn, NY)
22. Simone Kestelman (White Plains, NY)
23. Ann Ladd (White Plains, NY)
24. Terence Main (NYC)
25. Rebecca Major (NYC)
26. Kim Markel (Beacon, NY)
27. Wendy Naidich (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY)
28. Manny Ofori (Wappingers Falls, NY)
29. Ernie Palmieri/Bentwood Studio (Westchester)
30. Mary Tooley Parker (Yorktown Heights, NY)
31. Anton Pollard (Mount Vernon, NY)
32. Carl Rattner (New City, NY)
33. Marilyn Richeda (South Salem, NY)
34. RockPaperRobot (Brooklyn, NY)
35. Dyan Rosenberg (North Salem, NY)
36. Alexander Rutsch (Pelham, NY)
37. Reinaldo Sanguino (Queens, NY)
38. Scott Seaboldt (New Rochelle, NY)
39. Joel Sherry (Sleepy Hollow, NY)
40. Selene Smerling (Irvington, NY)
41. Carol Perron Sommerfield (Ardsley, NY)
42. Cassie Hyde Strasser (Airmont, NY)
43. Peter Strasser, (Airmont, NY)
44. Lee Christine Tyler (Yonkers, NY)
45. Rochelle Udell (Ossining, NY)
46. Les Von Losberg (Sleepy Hollow, NY)
47. Hanna Washburn (Astoria, NY)
48. Kristen Wentrcek & Andrew Zebulon (Brooklyn, NY)
49. Anna West (Beacon, NY)
50. Thomas Wetzel (Middle Grove, NY)
51. Cheryl Wing-Zi Wong (Brooklyn, NY)
52. Win Zibeon (Blauvelt, NY)