Arts Westchester Pieces it Together with New Exhibit
By Sam Barron
Collect. Cut. Manipulate. Change. Rearrange. Affix. Repurpose.
That is the slogan of Arts Westchester’s “Piecing it Together” Art Show running until March 17 at 31 Mamaroneck Avenue. The show, which kicked off with an opening night reception on Friday, displays collages from some of Westchester’s top artists.
Kathleen Reckling, the gallery co-coordinator for ArtsWestchester said that collage involves all different kinds of range and material.
“It’s so diverse,” Reckling said.
Planning for the show began last summer, when Reckling visited the studio of artist Luis Pearlman, who runs his own gallery, The Blue Door in Yonkers. Reckling then compiled eight artists throughout Westchester to display their work at the show.
“It’s a great configuration of images,” Reckling said. “You can get up and close with the artists.”
Janet Langsam, the CEO of ArtsWestchester, said that she was happy to be able to show off some of Westchester’s best artists.
“Collage is such an interesting form of artwork,” Langsam said. “We are lucky to have this building on the main drag of White Plains.”
Michael Albert, a White Plains resident, is known for his collages containing cereal boxes. Albert has used cereal boxes to do collages of the preamble of the Constitution, a passage from “Macbeth” and the song “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee.”
Albert began making collages while he was a business student. He parlayed his business acumen into running Gratitude, a juice company.
“I’ve always wanted to do something important,” Albert said. “Art is really important.”
Among the work includes “The Last Breakfast,” a spoof of DaVinci’s “Last Supper” featuring cereal characters and a collage of Cocoa Puff boxes. Albert, who teaches art at local schools across Westchester, is often donated boxes by his students.
Pearlman was displaying eight works of art in the show, having been doing collages since he was very young.
“You can move stuff around and manipulate pieces,” Pearlman said “It’s something I gravitated toward.”
Pearlman said that art shows like this are very important, as artists need all of the exposure they can get.
“This is a wonderful place to show your work,” Pearlman said. “It’s a very large space so you don’t feel cluttered. It’s important to give artists an opportunity to show their work.”
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
