2017 Arsenal Gallery Exhibits

December 7, 2017 – January 4, 2018

Wreath Interpretations

Celebrate the holiday season with the 35th annual exhibition of inventive, unconventional wreaths crafted by a diverse selection of more than 40 fine artists, designers, and other creative contributors. Enlivening this timeless holiday symbol, the participating artists employ a variety of unusual materials like beer cans, eyeglasses, kitchen utensils, and gardening tools to examine themes ranging from climate change to family heritage. This exhibition is an imaginative and fun way to experience the holiday season. 

September 14 – November 24, 2017

Over Here: A Centennial Commemoration of World War I Memorials in NYC Parks

A century after US entry into World War I, the exhibit Over Here features 39 of the 102 World War Memorials in New York City’s Parks. Through the use of 94 vintage and contemporary photographs, as well as original renderings, and objects, the show conveys the losses that communities throughout the city experienced and the artistic response. The show also references how parks were used for the war effort. Highlights include images of sculptor Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, an original rendering of Father Duffy in Times Square, and the bronze maquette for the Woodside Doughboy.

June 23 – September 1, 2017

Plant Patterns

Plant Patterns features the work of Adam Frezza & Terri Chiao, Adrienne Elise Tarver, Karin Haas, Liesl Pfeffer and Nick Wildermuth. The artists use plants’ impressive natural characteristics as a means to explore various themes in their graphic works. Domestic and wild flora have provided artists with inspiration for centuries. The diversity and multitude of plant colors, shapes, and repetitive forms, which evolved to lure pollinators, caution predators, and promote regeneration, are naturally appealing to artists’ sensibilities.

May 4 – June 15, 2017

Other Homes

Curated by Audra Lambert (Antecedent Projects), Other Homes is a group exhibition that considers the role of organic materials within the lexicon of contemporary art, specifically art that employs found objects and assemblage. Marina Andrijcic-Ojeda, Jon Bunge, Katya Grokhovsky, Rachel Hornaday and Nyugen Smith each consider the effects of natural environments on contemporary art. Their works consider our intimacy with the natural environment while examining the tension created by transforming organic matter into assembled and found artworks.

March 9 – April 27, 2017

Zane York, Nature Morte

With a hint of dark humor, Zane York transforms traditional floral still lives and familiar scenes into unexpected compositions in Nature Morte. Clusters of insects morph into floral arrangements, and cats in the clutches of pigeons rise to the heavens. Executed in the style and skill of famed Dutch masters, York reminds us of the mortality, transience and vulnerability of all living things.