LUNATION: Art on the Moon

lunation-image11LUNATION
Art on the Moon

Observatory’s first group-curated show  •  January 7 – February 26, 2012

View show images here

Opening Party: Saturday, January 7th, 7–10 PM, FREE
Closing Party/Observatory’s 3rd Anniversary Fundraiser: Saturday, February 18th, 8 PM/$20
Show Viewing Hours: Thursday & Friday 3–6 PM, Saturday & Sunday 12–6 PM

Artists and scientists have always been attracted to the moon…
Our closest celestial neighbor, the earth’s little sister, the moon creates the tides and illuminates the woods at night. For centuries, humanity believed the moon provided a key into the invisible realm: it called out the beast within us, freeing us to act as wolves, to run, to dance, to chant—and sometimes (as in Duncan Jones’ Moon) to split in two, to find our double, our changeling moon-self.

Is the moon home to life? Today we know it isn’t, but even as of 1830, speculation was rampant that the moon was inhabited by Christianized bat-people who worshiped in great ziggurats. (See The Sun and the Moon by Observatory alumnus Matthew Goodman for details.) Still, life comes to the moon. We know the moon contains frozen water, and we dream of using it as our jumping-off point for visiting even more alien vistas.

Down here, despite all the prowess and nuance of our latest telescopes, earthlings still look up naked-eyed with excitement at the full moon. Lovers and children gaze up at its slowly blinking façade in mute wonder. Artists portray the moon as a source of danger and power, and latter-day sorceresses and men of magic call up to that heavenly lamp, seeking to transcend the ordinary night. For them, the old myths have not changed so much: the moon is still a secret mirror, showing in pale light how the familiar contains always an element of the unexpected…

Artists Included

  • Grace Baxter
  • Jesse Bransford
  • Susan Crawford
  • Noah Doely
  • Joanna Ebenstein
  • Theo Ellsworth
  • Ted Enik
  • Jesse Gelaznik
  • Ethan Gould
  • Dr. Gary Greenberg
  • Pam Grossman
  • Maria Liebana
  • Gerald Marks
  • Chad Merritt
  • Heidi Neilson
  • G.F. Newland
  • Rebeca Olguín
  • Herbert Pfostl
  • Kathryn Pierce
  • Lado Pochkhua
  • James Walsh
  • Julianne Zaleta

LUNATION Dates to Save:

Moonshot Magazine’s “Secret Issue” Reading and Release Party

moonshot3cover Date: Monday, November 21st
Time: 7pm
Admission: $5 suggested donation
Presented by: Phantasmaphile

Moonshot will be celebrating the release of its third print issue, “Secret”, with a reading and reception. From adults glimpsing into the strange occurrences of childhood to poems invoking spirits in a language of their own, “Secret” is a force of arresting writing and art. We sought the uncanny, the hidden, and the immeasurable and placed it inside these pages. This issue includes a special collection of artwork curated by PULP Projects.

Moonshot, a magazine of the literary and fine arts, was conceived in 2009 to provide an equal opportunity space for writers and artists based solely on the merits of their work. Moonshot’s mission is to eliminate the social challenges of publishing–encouraging all types of writers and artists to submit their work in the pursuit of exposing their creations to a wider range of audiences. It is our goal to utilize traditional printing techniques as well as new technologies and media arts to feature voices from all over the globe. Moonshot celebrates storytelling of all forms, embraces the dissemination of media, and champions diverse creators to construct an innovative and original literary magazine.

Exhibition: The Corrigan Family Oddments

satisfied-nicotine-freaks

Satisfied Nicotine Freaks, Dennis Corrigan, Oil on Canvas

An exhibition curated by G. F. Newland
Exhibition Opening Party: Friday, June 17, 7-10pm
On View: Friday June 17 - July 23, 2011
Hours: Thursdays & Fridays 3-6pm; Saturdays & Sundays 12-6pm

Greetings Art fans! In celebration of Father’s Day, the Observatory Things-That-Move Dept. invites you all to take a peek at procreation! In nature, talents can be predisposed, and passed on from generation to generation. Families like the Gentileschis, the Peales, the Bachs, the Wyethes, and most recently, the Kominsky-Crumbs have all made a strong case for this heredity thing; the Bush presidencies, not so much, but hey, it’s a crap shoot! Anyway, our latest show is about a wee dynasty of painters named Corrigan, and through their family oddments, we will examine art, eccentricity, and the vagaries of genetic code.

The Corrigan Family Oddments features the work of Dennis Corrigan and his two adult daughters, Sara and Becky. Dennis Corrigan–the family patriarch–rose to prominence in the art world of the late 1960s after returning from his tour of duty in the Philippines during the Vietnam war. He continues to pursue an active studio life involving the production of intricate and creepy yet humorous paintings, and film projects based on puppet characters derived from those paintings. His work resides in museums and galleries around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum or Art and the Brooklyn Museum. Sara, his oldest daughter, is a filmmaker and film-editor who has worked with such luminaries as Woody Allen; her fine art work consists of bizarre images of an imaginary and desperate Marilyn Monroe wannabe. These delightful yet deranged little paintings are created in oil on canvas. Becky, the youngest daughter, works as a singer-songwriter and physical therapist while creating very simple line drawings of ludicrous characters and more complex oil portraits of people on the edge.

This promises to be a most enjoyable show revealing the concepts and skills, similarities and differences of a very talented and humorous family of artists.