Artists as Innovators: Celebrating Three Decades of New York State Council on the Arts / New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships

Curated by David C. Terry and Judith K. Brodsky with the assistance of Madeline Scholl

August 30 – November 12, 2017
Alice and Horace Chandler and North Galleries

 
The artists in this exhibition are acclaimed and respected around the world. They have shaped the art of the end of the 20^th century and continue to influence art making in the 21^st century.   This exhibition shows how these influential artists interpret our times, question our values and prompt social awareness by creating works of art that are innovative and full of visual power. They have realigned art from a concern with only the formal to the social and political. Working independently of one another, these artists come together here as agents of change, merging art and activism and challenging traditional conventions of how and for what reasons art is created and consumed.

Artists as Innovators: Celebrating Three Decades of New York State Council on the Arts / New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships showcases a program that has supported over 4,000 artists in various fields in the visual arts, literature, and performing arts at critical stages throughout their careers. NYSCA/NYFA Fellows have a history of addressing pressing and often controversial issues such as the status of women, sexual orientation, equality, consumerism, globalization and more.

Ida Applebroog, Winnie’s Pooh, 1993, image courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth

The Dorsky and six museums on State University of New York campuses (SUNY Cortland, Alfred University, SUNY Fredonia, SUNY Plattsburgh, Stony Brook University, and Westchester Community College) are partnering with NYFA to present an exhibition that will travel throughout the state from Fall 2017 through Spring 2020. As part of the exhibition tour, regional SUNY partners will present complementary exhibitions and programs. SUNY and NYFA are obvious partners in this project as both shape the culture of New York State by nurturing its creative and intellectual communities.

The roster of NYSCA/NYFA Fellows includes such significant figures as Doug Aitken, James Casebere, David Hammons, Barbara Kruger, and Shirin Neshat in the visual arts, A.M. Homes, David Henry Hwang, Tony Kushner, and