Exhibition Archive

October 1, 2006 - April 8, 2007

Michael Krondl: Rising Water, Falling Water

The Katonah Museum will look a bit different this fall thanks to Michael Krondl’s photographic mural installed along the outside wall facing Route 22. Over 200-feet long, the mural depicts a waterfall cascading from the top of the parapet down to the ground. The artist shot the water imagery at the nearby Amawalk Reservoir. Through painstaking digital editing, the trompe l’oeil image blends seamlessly into the surrounding environment. Krondl’s installation is striking in both its unexpectedness and beauty.

January 14, 2007 - April 8, 2007

KMAA Featured Artist: Nadine Gordon-Taylor

A photo-realistic watercolor from Nadine Gordon-Taylor’s series Self Portrait Minus Self will be featured in the KMA’s atrium this winter. The series is an ongoing “conversation” between the artist’s shadow and the object on which it falls. Gordon-Taylor’s examination of the relationship between light and dark is strongly influenced by her father, who was a photographer and lighting expert.

The artist received her doctorate in art history from Teachers College, Columbia University, and teaches art at Scarsdale High School and the College of New Rochelle. With a studio in Peekskill, she is active in the city’s thriving art scene.

October 1, 2006 - December 31, 2006

Wonder Women: Idols in Contemporary Art

Through the millennia, the practice of idolatry – worshiping false or counterfeit gods – has been widely opposed by most religions. Nevertheless, America has evolved into a society that elevates worldly figures to divine proportions. Today, idols are drawn almost exclusively from the realm of popular culture rather than from religious contexts.

This visual consumption and worship is the subject of Wonder Women: Idols in Contemporary Art, curated by Suzanne Ramljak. Often based on photographs from mass media, artworks by Audrey Flack, David Levinthal, Andy Warhol, and others accentuate or question the traits that define these secular goddesses. Many of the images are of highly recognizable women – Marilyn, Madonna, Barbie – while a few represent cult figures or fantasy characters. Together the works shine a spotlight on the process and trappings of deification, where mere mortals are transformed into beings of mythic stature.

October 1, 2006 - December 31, 2006

Ancient Art of the Cyclades

This exhibition celebrates the much-admired works of art created during the third millennium B.C. by craftsmen of the Cycladic islands of the Aegean Sea. Early Cycladic objects, once viewed as archaeological curiosities, are today a source of widespread fascination and appeal. Their simple lines and spare elegance inspired such modern artists as Brancusi, Modigliani, and Picasso.

The most prominent craft in Early Cycladic culture was stone-carving, especially marble sculpture. The abundance of good-quality white marble, particularly on the islands of Paros and Naxos, encouraged its wide use for the creation of human figures, mostly female, as well as functional vessels.

With loans from a dozen museums and 16 private collections, Ancient Art of the Cyclades focuses on the iconic female figures commonly called idols. Many excellent examples are on view, through which visitors can trace the stylistic development that took place from 3000 B.C. to 2200 B.C. A range of typical Cycladic vessels, mostly of marble, is also on display. Found mostly at grave sites, the works in the exhibition were chosen for their aesthetic impact, their interest, and their diversity.

Knowledge of Cycladic civilization has been fathomed through its artifacts, since there was no written language to help archaeologists. Curator Dr. Pat Getz-Gentle, an author and scholar who has devoted her professional life to the field, has written the essay for the comprehensive catalogue in which she puts forth the latest findings and her own theories on Early Cycladic culture.

October 1, 2006 - December 31, 2006

Sara Fanelli: Mythological Monsters of Ancient Greece

Beware! Sara Fanelli’s wild creatures from her book Mythological Monsters of Ancient Greece are coming to the Learning Center this fall. Meet Medusa and her snaky hair. See the sea monster Scylla with his five heads and ten feet. Eye the 100 eyeballs of Argus. Fanelli retells the ancient Greek myths through her lively drawings, allowing young readers’ imaginations to soar. All of the art comes from London, where Ms. Fanelli lives. We hope her monsters behave on the plane!