OPENING NIGHT

THE BATTLE AGAINST EXTINCTION

photo by karen kuslansky, 2006

all images, except top photo, by harald plochberger, 2006

bau presents

THE BATTLE AGAINST EXTINCTION

Preservation of the existing? - archeological compilation of remnants of the past? - the creation of morphological elements? – are coming together in "THE BATTLE AGAINST EXTINCTION" - carried out by three artists, and presented during the months of December and January in The Muddy Cup Coffee House in Beacon, NY.

Brett Farkas utilizes wood, card stock, resin, fabric, ink, pencils and many more media in order to become the creator of cartoonish? characters, sealed and preserved like insects from the past in amber.

Multi disciplinary artist Karen Kuslansky's concept of miniature sculptures is a playful and serious artistic response to the monotony of prefabricated building elements of toys. Assembled, lacking their usual context, these objects enter an arena of sophisticated sci fi art, in their own, minimalistic way.
More examples of Karen's work - electronic sound/ music creations, videos, digitally generated images and prints, and objects can be viewed at:
http://hellovision.com
http://www.myspace.com/kron
Karen participated in February 2005 in bau's invitational group show: "The Newburgh<>Beacon Bridge".

Jean Tock finds, collects, and assembles fragments, thus creating new environments for them, and re-directing our associations when looking at her boxes and objects. Her recent work is clearly inspired by the great Joseph Cornell.
______________________________

Brett Farkas:

image: brett farkas - octobau, 2006

*artist statement...(of sorts)*

"I do things that make me laugh! Nothing more to it than that."

“…the image is a 3 color silk screen on card stock.
it was made in 2006. actually, it was made about 5 days ago, to be exact.
i am not much into the bio thing.
i understand that it can give someone information about who i am; its not about me, its about the art.
if people like my art, great; if they don’t, no big whoop.

awesome.

Brett”

Brett Farkas
___________________________

Karen Kuslansky:

image: karen kuslansky - one

THE BATTLE AGAINST EXTINCTION

The puzzle is perfect
As a matter of fact
Each piece is perfect
As matter is exact

It is a matter of time
And a matter of will
For time is the matter
And matter is the will

The puzzle is perfect
Everything in tact
Each piece is perfect
Nothing is in lack

It is a matter of time
And a matter of will
For time is the matter
And matter is the will
______________________________

After graduating from the School of Visual Arts in 2001, Karen Kuslansky took a leap a faith and moved to her hometown in order to pursue and encourage progressive thinking in an area that was on the cusp of something great. It did not take long for Karen to access the right people, organizations, communities, and businesses. In the five years she has lived in the Mid-Hudson Valley, she has created an identity through her artistic contributions, design work, teaching, music, and community spirit. During this period Karen has pursued many projects under the name +helloVISION+

With a flair for networking, Karen connected with many prominent artists and designers in the area and has created a distinct portfolio including interior/exterior design, new media, industrial/package design, theoretical writing and criticism, and graphic/print services.
Karen has also developed a unique branding strategy that has led to a series of her own fine art under the umbrella i™

Karen otherwise known as K®N has become somewhat of an internet personality as her electronic music experiments have caught the attention of both national and international collectives.

KAREN KUSLANSKY!
©reator
Interactive
Video
Electronic
Graphic
Web
Industrial
Interior
Fashion
Music
Theory
Education
education
98-01 School of Visual Arts BFA Computer Art 3.7
94-96 Rhode Island School of Design Film & Video
employment
2005 +helloVISION+ DIRECTOR
2004 Cupid.com WEB DESIGNER
2003 Mount Saint Mary College WEB PROFESSOR
2003 NYN Arts. DIGITAL & VIDEO ART EDITOR
2002 phi.d PACKAGE DESIGNER
assisted
2002 John Lonzcak Industrial Designer
2002 Don Bonham Sculptor
2001 Steve Prezant Photographer
+helloVISION+
welcoming your vision to ours
clients
2005 The Village Merchants
2005 The River BANK.
2005 THE aRT OF HAIR
2004 Cupid.com
2003 Stylo WOODWORK & DESIGN
2002 phi.d
i™
exhibits
2005 AttrA Painter's Group Show
2005 Spire Studios Series A.D.
2005 bau 2 Newburgh<>Beacon Bridge
2004 Van Brunt Gallery Analog & Digital Group Show
2003 (S)(H)(O)(W) EDOM:MODE
2002 Digitalis II The Spiritual in Digital Art
2000 8th Annual NY Digital Salon CROMAGNONMUS
online exhibits
2005 PODgallery Selected Works
2003 NYN Arts. Portfolio
2003 spacearts TM™ Overview
2002 artcodes collective CROMAGNONMUS
2002 peel™ Self Portrait
2001 Mirror at the bottom solvent.mp3
2001 tHE nEW wORLD oRDER HI$ $ALE
press
2005 Poughkeepsie Journal
2004 Arts in Orange
2001 Bus@cine
2000 Leonardo Magazine
K®N
music mentioned on
2005 Transceover Productions
2004 the anthrophone
2004 ruccas.org
•URLS AND REFERENCES PROVIDED UPON REQUEST

All pieces, including the poem © Karen Kuslansky, 2006.
___________________________

Jean Tock:

image: jean tock - bit-o-honey

"After much experimenting with collage and mixed media, I am currently working on mixed media assemblage in boxes, influenced by Joseph Cornell, an artist whose work always takes me to that wordless place of appreciation. I try to use imagery that means something to me personally and I enjoy giving discarded objects new life in my art."

Education: B.A. in English Literature, Penn State University, 1984Classwork at Parsons School of Design, 1984-1987Classes at Putnam Arts Council, 1988-presentWork: Art Director, Harper & Row PublishersPresident & Graphic Designer, Wyckoff Graphics, Inc.Shows: 2005, Putnam Arts Council, Tsunami Benefit Show 2006, Mahopac Public Library, “More Than One Way” –a 5 artist show2006, Putnam Arts Council, “Red”2006, Putnam Arts Council, “Environmental Show”2006, Artitude magazine, Issue #23

AUGUST OPENING

all photos by harald plochberger - 2006

AUGUST SECOND SATURDAY

The Living Artists Of Beacon @ The Muddy Cup

Sharon Watts, Hard To Get, mixed media, assemblage

Mary Ann Glass, Boscobel Garden, photograph

Kate Daley, Neighborhood, oil and plaster on board

John Fasulo, Beacon Newburgh Bridge, second span construction, 1979, photograph

How many artists are living in Beacon these days? It's hard to know for sure but the Living Artists of Beacon Directory is trying to list them. Artists have moved into Beacon from all over: Brooklyn, Manhattan, Germany, San Francisco, Vienna, Jersey City. There are painters and puppeteers, playwrights and poets, weavers and writers, cartoonists and composers, abstract-impressionists and actors, minimalists and musicians, singers and sculptors.
It all started with Dia: Beacon and their renowned permanent collection of works from the 60's to the present. When they opened their nearly 300,000 sq foot museum in a historic printing facility on the Hudson in 2003, the word got out. Beacon was being transformed by art. Individual artists followed apace and some gathered in studio complexes, at Bulldog Studios, recycling the old high school, and at Spire Studios, above the Pack & Paddle shop. Three years later almost everyone will admit that art is the economic engine driving Beacon. Art galleries dot Main Street, along with restaurants, antique stores, coffee houses, and now an art supply store, drawing crowds of tourists and shoppers. The historic architecture is being restored. The Beacon Arts Community Association (BACA), formed in 2002, fosters and encourages the development of the Beacon community as an arts and business center and promotes Beacon as an arts destination throughout the Hudson Valley and beyond. And so with the encouragement of BACA and her friends, Mia Barkan Clarke embarked on the task of trying to find and list all these artists, newcomer and native alike, into a directory of The Living Artists of Beacon.

bau is pleased to celebrate this evolution in Beacon’s life by presenting the 1st Annual Juried Exhibition of the artists in the directory.
Among the exhibiting artists are:

Shirley Botsford came to Beacon in 1986 as a refugee from Manhattan. She is an instructor at Marist College and works in the textile art of collage and quilting.
Kate Daley has lived in Beacon for two years and has exhibited her paintings, drawings and mixed media works in galleries in Beacon, New York City, Chicago and Italy. She received her B.A. in Studio Art and English Literature from Binghamton University and is completing her M.S.Ed. in Museum Education from The Bank Street College of Education. image: Neighborhood 18x22, oil and plaster on board

John Fasulo is a Beacon artist who has been living in the area for most of his life. Fasulo's photos represent poignant scenes of children, railroad images, portraits and scenic landscapes. His photographs have been published in National Geographic, Chronogram, The Poughkeepsie Journal, Middletown Times Herald Record, and Hudson Valley Magazine, among others. image: Beacon-Newburgh Bridge, second span construction Fall 1979

Mary Ann Glass left Wall Street for Beacon and a life of photography in 1999. Glass‘s work has been described as spiritual and sensual, serious and elegant. She has studied with such photographers as Brian Lav, Joel Meyerwitz, Joyce Tenneson and Arlene Collins. Her images have been included in many group shows in the region and NYC. In August, her mixed media work will be featured at RiverWinds Gallery, and next June she will have a solo show at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie. www.riverwindsgallery.com image: Boscobel Garden black and white infrared photograph, 16x20

Erin Kaleel moved to Beacon 2 years ago from Brooklyn. She is a fiber artist who takes her inspiration from nature and is the co-creator of Feel Design, an inspiring store on Main St. filled with unique handcrafted design and fine art. www.feeldesigned.com

Roseann Petrie (Roe) would like people see what she feels inside through her photographic images. Roe is a native of Beacon N.Y and is currently building a home in Vermont. Her on-line gallery is www.pbase.com/nicky52/galleries. image: Curtains

Sharon Watts: As a girl I loved princesses and scavenger hunts and could draw and collect junk like nobody's business. Still can. image: Hard to get 5x13, mixed media assemblage

Catherine Welshman: I came to Beacon 5 years ago from Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I work with figures through the manipulation of oil paint, collage and cutouts. Whether through portraiture, fragmented body imagery, or articulated by a narrative, my interest in figuration lies in the differences between a person's physical appearance and inner mentality.

Mia Barkan Clarke (juror) is an artist, Creative Arts Therapist, poet/writer and author of The Living Artists of Beacon Directory, residing in Beacon, NY. Her paintings have been exhibited at a number of galleries including The Paterson Museum and Stage Gallery in Merrick, NY. Mia is an instructor of Art Therapy at Molloy College in Rockville Centre, NY and is in private practice within the Hudson Valley.
Jennifer Mackiewicz (juror) is the Senior Administrator at Dia:Beacon Riggio Galleries. Prior to her move to the Hudson Valley 5 years ago, Ms. Mackiewicz lived and worked in Nevada as assistant and business manager for Michael Heizer, one of the artists in Dia’s collection. Ms. Mackiewicz received her BFA from the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan where she majored in painting and sculpture. She currently resides in Beacon where she pursues her own art interests and is an active member of the local arts and civic community.

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bau presents @ the Muddy Cup:

The Living Artists of Beacon
1st Annual Juried Exhibition
August 12 - October 8, 2006
juried by Mia Barkan Clarke, Author, The Living Artists of Beacon Directory
and Jennifer Mackiewicz, Senior Administrator, Dia:BeaconVisual Artists' Opening Reception:August 12, 2006 6 - 9pm
Performing Artists' Opening Reception:
September 9, 2006 6-9pm

The Muddy Cup Coffee House
129 Main St
Beacon, NY 12508
contact@muddycup.com
www.muddycup.com

bau - beacon artist union
161 Main StreetBeacon, NY 12508

Opening Hours: Sat/Sun 12 - 6pm & by appt.

T 845 440 7584

bauinfo@optonline.net
www.beaconartistunion.com

Opening John Fasulo

art and coffee

Recently Jim Svetz, the owner of the Muddy Cup Cafe on Main Street in Beacon came to bau's gallery space and asked me if bau would like to arrange the display of art work in his brandnew
coffee house right at the beginning of Main Street's West End.
What an intriguing offer!
This perfectly matches bau's mission to create artistic links to the community in addition to bau's shows and events in its gallery. bau will curate rotating art shows at the Muddy Cup every six weeks, presenting members' and non members' works with a focus on local artists.
Christopher Staples and Harald Plochberger selected works of several bau members currently on display at the Muddy Cup.
For extensive information on the art at the Muddy Cup - and more art at bau, please contact us by phone (845.440.7584), email (bauinfo@optonline.net) or directly in our gallery on 161 Main Street (Sat/Sun 12-6pm & by appt).
We'd like to thank Jim very much for being a great patron of the arts and to let bau help making a contribution to the most pleasant atmosphere at the Muddy Cup.
Enjoy excellent coffee "under the arts" at the Muddy Cup!

Harald Plochberger, May 2006.

Jim

photos harald plochberger, 2006