New York Academy Of Art Returns To The Southampton Arts Center For 'About Face'

Just like snowflakes, no two portraits are quite the same.

This fact will become clear after viewing “About Face,” an exhibition of more than 70 contemporary sculptures, paintings and photographs by students, faculty and supporters of the Tribeca-based New York Academy of Art.

Co-curated by David Kratz, the president of the academy, and Scott Avett, an artist and a musician in the folk band The Avett Brothers, this exhibition will be the nonprofit university’s second at the Southampton Arts Center following last year’s “Water|Bodies.” This year’s show surveys contemporary portraiture from established artists such as Eric Fischl, Damian Loeb, Larry Rivers and Dana Schutz, and emerging artists as well.

The show’s curatorial theme ties closely with the New York Academy of Art’s founding mission of promoting the use of traditional figurative methods and techniques in contemporary art. The school was founded 37 years ago by Andy Warhol and Stuart Pivar, who were worried that, with the growth of unconventional art, the traditional skills of fine art making were being lost in the process.

“What was in fashion then was critical theory, conceptual work, and abstractness. The fine skills of painting, drawing and sculpture were not really in fashion at the time,” Mr. Kratz said in an interview at his Southampton home. “What we do is we teach people those skills, but in the service of making vital contemporary art.”

First year students of the academy go through what Mr. Kratz calls “boot camp,” where intensive technique training takes place. “Once they get that whole array of skills in their arsenal, then the next year they’re required to do work that is uniquely personal to them,” said Mr. Kratz, who believes that this approach gives the academy’s students an extra edge in the art world.

“Our mission is to give people the skills that they need to be able to articulate their creative vision. It’s a great mix,” he noted.

He is particularly excited for “About Face” because it reflects the values the academy instills in its students.

“This show is taking something that the school focuses on—depicting people—but putting it in the context of what is happening with some of the most innovative, leading thinkers in that field now,” he said. “It’s a mix of very celebrated, big-deal artists who are doing figurative work and then academy alumni who are doing the same thing.”

Mr. Kratz said that after his wonderful experience curating a show at the Southampton Arts Center last year, he had he couldn’t resist returning for another one.

“The Southampton Arts Center gives us a really great way to tell the story of the school in the context of the current arts scene,” he said. “And the work just looks so beautiful in there.”

“About Face” will be on view at the Southampton Arts Center from Friday, July 28, through Sunday, September 17. An opening reception will take place July 28 from 6 to 8 p.m., and an artist talk will be presented on Friday, August 25. For more information, call 631-283-0967 or visit southamptonartscenter.org.