SARATOGA SPRINGS —The Schick Art Gallery at Skidmore College presents “Humor Me,” an exhibition of work by Betsy Brandt, Kiah Celeste, Amy Cutler, David Greenberger, and Nina Katchadourian, March 24 through April 25. An opening reception will take place from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, March 24.
Works on view include drawings, paintings, prints, photographs, sculpture, and video. The humor in question may be subtle, overt, and even contradictory, arousing a lingering curiosity in the viewer.
David Greenberger is an artist and writer best known for his Duplex Planet series of zines, comic books, and spoken-word performances. His 9x11-inch colored pencil drawings are often text-based and explore personal philosophies, popular culture, and accidental poetics. Each drawing follows specific compositional limitations; over the past decade, he has amassed thousands of drawings grouped into idiosyncratic categories such as “Spaghetti,” “Haircut Commemorative Drawings Priced the Same as my Age,” and “Band Names Popular among Twelve-year-old Boys.” Along with comic books, Greenberger’s work has been adapted into short films and one-act plays, and his essays and performances have been broadcast on National Public Radio.
Betsy Brandt’s paintings flood the eye with color and tease with loopy rounded shapes and puckish gestures. Her art has been exhibited in museums and galleries since 1987; one of her first well-known pieces is “Adirondackland,” a 1998 collaborative installation with Susie Brandt shown at Art in General in New York City.
Kiah Celeste focuses on three-dimensional work, using recycled industrial objects and building them into abstract forms. She has shown work at KMAC Museum in Louisville, Kentucky; Josephine Sculpture Park in Frankfort, Kentucky; and Swivel Gallery in Brooklyn, New York, among other venues. Celeste currently lives and works in Louisville, Kentucky.
Amy Cutler is known for her enigmatic illustrations of women performing strange, cryptic tasks: carrying goats on their backs in “Above the Fjord,” or sewing stripes onto tigers in “Tiger Mending.” Cutler’s works have been shown at Madison Museum of Contemporary Art in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, among other national and international venues, and are held in numerous public and private collections.
An interdisciplinary artist whose work includes video, performance, sound, sculpture, photography, and public projects, Nina Katchadourian’s choice of materials and medium is often the byproduct of chance or self-imposed rules. Her work has been shown at the Brooklyn Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and MoMA PS1, among other national and international venues.
Schick Gallery events are free and open to the public. Visit www.skidmore.edu/schick for updated information on related events.
