Exhibitions

Fall 2024

 

The Voracious Eye

Photo by Gary Gold.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 1 to December 7, 2024

Molly Heron, Nancy Shaver & Wolf, Ilene Sunshine, Christopher Werner, and Allan Wexler

The impulse that draws us to objects calling to our sense of sight and touch runs deep. Touchstones, sites of visual pleasure, repositories of meaning—material artifacts that capture and hold our attention are emblematic of our innate attachment to the physical world. 

Artists, always looking, alert to form, shape, color, texture, and pattern, have a particularly intense relationship with material objects. Viewers of The Voracious Eye are invited to witness this spark of attention between artist and object in five discrete installations by four artists and one  expansive collaboration by a group of artists. Each constellation represents a conversation between all manner of redolent artifacts these artists have pulled into their ­­­­­­­­orbit. 

What is this electrified connection between human beings and the objects of the world that we invest with meaning? Our emotional propensity to connect constitutes a longing which animates even the inanimate materiality of things.

Whether artists or non-artists, we are all curators, in the sense of the Latin “curare,” which means “to take care of.” This exhibition hopes to inspire in viewers a new awareness of the objects inhabiting their lives. It aims to upend hierarchical notions of value, as sometimes the most ordinary, the functional, the odd, the distressed, are the ones that hold the most resonance.  

—Joan Grubin, curator 

More detailed information visit our Programs & Events
  • FRI Nov. 1 FIRST FRIDAY, Reception 5:30 to 7:30pm. With jazz from the Alan Thomson Trio.
  • THU Nov. 21 7pm Stage & Stanza, hosted by Carol Durant with RSC Theatre Institute Director David Baecker. 
  • FRI Dec. 6  FIRST FRIDAY, Live music in the gallery from 6pm to 7pm with Nancy Donnelly Duo!
  • SAT Dec. 7 2pm, Conversation and closing reception with The Voracious Eye curator and artists

 

Spring 2025

 

Screenprint Biennial 

Shelia Goloborotko’s installation in the 2018 Screenprint Biennial.

 

January 24 through March 1, 2025

This exhibition marks the 10-year anniversary of the Screenprint Biennial. Like many ideas, it took awhile to come to life. The very first Screenprint Biennial in 2014 was by invitation, followed by a series of open calls juried by myself and a rotating cast of screenprint artists and professionals. 2024 marks a return to the invitational, as I decided to invite artists who had shown at least once before in a Screenprint Biennial exhibition. Choosing among the scores of artists who have previously exhibited is sort of like choosing your favorite among your children, and I had to exclude many amazing artists. At the end of the day, I returned to my mission of assembling an exhibit showing off the amazing range of expression and meaning possible from screenprinted art. 

The works presented in this exhibition range from colorful to political. Some pieces are loud and in your face, where others are quiet and contemplative. While all the art works rely on the essential technology that is screenprint, some utilize a more digital approach, while others a more analog aesthetic. Together, these very different works act in tandem to tell the diverse, important, and even contradictory story of screenprinting in art.

The Screenprint Biennial has been a wild 10-year ride, and I’m not sure where it is going next. I hope you enjoy this stop along the way.

—Nathan Meltz, Founder, Screenprint Biennial

More detailed information about Programs & Events
  • FRI Jan. 24  Opening. Walkthrough with Nathan Meltz at 5:30. Reception 6:00pm to 7:30pm.
  • FRI Jan. 31  Pecha Kucha, 6:30 snacks, Talks at 7pm.
  • FRI Feb. 6  Member Appreciation Reception. 5:30 to 7:00pm. New members welcome. Join here!
  • FRI  Feb. 7  Ticketed performance by Owls Quartet Performance, presented by Capital Region Classical
  • THURS Feb. 13  Print Panel,  6:00-7:00pm. Tyanna Buie, Ann Aspinwall, Ruben Castillo, & Nathan Meltz.
  • THURS Feb. 20 Yoga with Carrie Will of YogaCareNY. 6:00-7:00pm. All levels welcome.
  • SAT Feb. 22 All Ages Kids’ Art Workshop led by RSC MAT Art Education students. 1:00pm-2:30pm. Free but please register here.

 

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2024 – 2025 Season Sponsors

Opalka Gallery 2024-2025 season sponsors include:

  • Russell Sage College
  • Albany Public Library
  • Opalka Gallery logo
    Ongoing, sustaining support provided by Chet & Karen Opalka