Gallery Talks At The Parrish

On Friday, November 22, at 6 p.m., the Parrish Art Museum will present the first of five Gallery Talks by artists discussing their work in “Artists Choose Artists,” the museum’s ongoing juried exhibition that celebrates the artists of the East End and the dynamic relationships that unite the area’s creative community.

The first talk features juror Ralph Gibson (American, b. 1939), who was inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame on November 1, and his two selected artists for the exhibition — Tria Giovan (American, b. 1961) and Thomas Hoepker (German, b. 1936).

“I am delighted to start the series of Artists Choose Artists gallery talks with this illustrious group of photographers from different generations, whose images range from photojournalism to the surreal and narrative,” said Corinne Erni, Senior Curator of ArtsReach and Special Projects who organized the exhibition.

Throughout his nearly 50-year career defined by more than 40 published monographs, Gibson has created images that often incorporate erotic and mysterious undertones, building narrative meaning through contextualization and surreal juxtaposition.

Four photographs on view in the current Parrish exhibition come from his 2015 “Vertical Horizons Series” and they explore the natural and man-made, figurative and abstract.

Recently, Gibson began to incorporate photographs and musical compositions into film and live performances at New York’s Roulette and The Stone, among other venues, and in 2010 he collaborated with Lou Reed on the film “Red Shirley.” His work is featured in more than 170 museum collections worldwide and he has been the subject of hundreds of solo exhibitions.

Giovan’s photographs span a wide range of subject matter. Traveling extensively to Cuba during the economic depression of the Special Period (1990–1996), Giovan shot over 25,000 images, creating a body of work that captured the subtleties and complexities of the country’s day-to-day life. Five photographs from “The Cuba Archive” on view in the “Artists Choose Artists” exhibition reveal resiliency, creative defiance through aesthetics, and the unquashable human spirit amid oppression.

Giovan was born in Chicago and raised on the island of St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. Her images have been published in numerous magazines including Esquire, Coastal Living, ESPN Sports, Travel & Leisure, and House Beautiful. Her fine art photography is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York Public Library, and the Jewish Museum, NY; the Brooklyn Museum of Art; and the Parrish Art Museum.

Hoepker, a member of Magnum Photos from 1989 and its president from 2003 to 2006, has traveled the world as a photographer and photojournalist for decades. The five images on view in “Artists Choose Artists,” from his “Strange Encounters” monograph (2017), depict humorous interactions with art, including “Free Advice at the opening of the art museum in Southampton.” After studying archeology and art history, Hoepker traveled to Brazil, China, Cuba, Ethiopia, Greece, Peru, the U.S., and other countries for magazines including Muenchner Illustrierte, Kristall, and Stern. In 2005, the Foto Museum in Munich presented a retrospective of 230 of his photographs that traveled throughout Germany and across Europe.

“Artists Choose Artists,” which encourages fellowship among today’s expanded, multi-generational network of artists and demonstrates the diversity of contemporary creative practice, is on view through February 23, 2020.

Other upcoming “Artists Choose Artists” events:

December 13

Gallery Talk: Janet Goleas, Priscilla Heine, Bastienne Schmidt

Friday, January 3

Film & Talk: “Sanctuary” a documentary by Lillian Ball

January 10

Gallery Talk: Irina Alimanestianu, Scott Bluedorn, Janet Culbertson

January 24

Gallery Talk: Margaret Garrett, Ronald Reed, Mark Willliam Wilson

February 21

Gallery Talk: Mary Boochever, Anne Seelbach, Dan Welden

The Parrish Art Museum is at 279 Montauk Highway in Water Mill. To learn more contact parrishart.org.