By Julia Szabo
As culture institutions around the world begin to get the IDEA (for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access), redressing the historical primacy of white male artists, the Parrish Art Museum earns special kudos for proudly presenting the eye-opening “Set It Off” (through July 24). With works in various media by an international roster of female artists of color (Leilah Babirye, Torkwase Dyson, February James, Karyn Olivier, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Kennedy Yanko), “Set It Off” is the brainchild of a dynamic curatorial duo: Deux Femmes Noires, aka Racquel Chevremont and Mickalene Thomas, partners in art and life, together rewriting art history from a future-is-female POV. “Our hope, going forward, is that institutions will take greater risks—and stop viewing women artists of color as risks,” says Chevremont. Adds Thomas, “Instead of risks,they can take a leap, take the lead—as we and The Parrish have done.” parrishart.org
Taking a page from the IDEA movement, the year-old Peter Marino Art Foundation reimagines the landmark Rogers Memorial Library on Jobs Lane, with works from the renowned architect’s own splendid art collection, spanning antiquity to the present. Beginning July 16, the Foundation hosts a solo show of marble sculpture and paintings (including quilt/mixed media canvases) by Sanford Biggers, whose exaltation of Africana heritage is perfectly at home among Marino’s many other treasures. “What I admire in Sanford’s marble sculptures is the conjunction of African art with Western art,” Marino says. “I’ve commissioned four of them already, and purchased two others.” July 16-August 13. petermarinoartfoundation.org
Over in Springs, the Arts Center at Duck Creek presents two exhibitions running from July 23-August 21: “As Above, So Below,” curated by poet and The Nation art critic Barry Schwabsky, juxtaposes paintings by Hannah Beerman and Rafael Vega, both New York-based; and “Eric Brown: The Particulars of Rapture.” A selection of Brown’s magical ‘textile paintings’ created during lockdown in Amagansett, they are hand-loomed onto canvas with echoes of Agnes Martin’s lines: airy, shroudlike grids that weave a sacred spell. duckcreekarts.org
Beautifying the walls at The Drawing Room in East Hampton are paintings and drawings by another grid master, Jennifer Bartlett; these, too, conjure sheer, summery fabric, specifically madras; through August 8 (drawingroom-gallery.com). A six-minute walk brings you to Harper’s Books, and paintings by Deborah Brown—whose recent work explores the long shadows cast by her dog and herself while out walking in Brooklyn—plus the Los Angeles-based Max Jansons’ “Paradise”; through July 20. harpersgallery.com
AARP-eligible artists routinely encounter art-world ageism, so championing 90-years-young Nelson H. White, and including the esteemed third-generation impressionist in a group show alongside a diverse trio of younger painters (Kelly Carmody among them), was a master stroke for Sag Harbor’s Laura Grenning. grenninggallery.com
At his Wainscott gallery, Tripoli Patterson presents “Sky Years,” a solo show of paintings—soothing visual ports in a stormy sea—by collage connoisseur Sally Egbert, whose lyrical work has been described by poet Eileen Myles as “hypnotic as aquariums.” Says Egbert: “My work, while primarily abstract, also references landscapes, light, sky, trees and flowers.” tripoligallery.com
Very different nature imagery appears in the surrealist paintings of Lori Campbell, on view at The Lucore Art, the Montauk studio/gallery of artist Christopher Lucore, whose motto is: “Come in, look at art, have fun!” thelucoreart.com
At the intersection of Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon is where Colm Rowan positions Angela China, who wields a mighty brush (as wide as 12 inches) with exquisite control; opening July 23 at East Hampton’s Colm Rowan Fine Art (through August 14). “I will be featuring her also at the Hamptons Fine Art Fair in Southampton,” Rowan promises. colmrowan.com A beloved annual event showcasing the East End’s widest and deepest selection of important art ever, the Fair (hamptonsfineartfair.com) dedicates its opening date (July 14) to The Bastille Day Vernissage, a benefit for another much-loved Hamptons cultural institution: East Hampton’s Guild Hall, currently still closed to visitors. guildhall.org
In addition to viral anxiety, the pandemic produced an international movement marrying art and technology. “Each age finds its own technique,” Jackson Pollock once said—and those words welcome visitors to “Techspressionism—Digital and Beyond” at the Southampton Arts Center. A high-tech highlight: inkblot Rorschach tests rendered in 3D by Suzanne Anker. techspressionism.com
