WAG advanced the latest exhibition at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers for our current issue, as the show was not open before our deadline.
Well, it is now well and truly on display – as we experienced at the Feb. 8 opening reception – and “The Neo-Victorians: Contemporary Artists Revive Gilded-Age Glamour” is another case of being truly “worth the wait.”
A showcase of some 20-plus contemporary artists whose work is inspired by an earlier aesthetic, the exhibition is anything but a straightforward step back in time.
Instead, it’s billed as “an exhibition of contemporary art that employs Victorian aesthetics as a lens to explore modern concerns.”
This sweeping, multimedia journey into contemporary thought on gender roles and beauty is organized by the Hudson River Museum and guest curated by HRM’s former deputy director Bartholomew F. Bland, who’s now the executive director of the Lehman College Art Gallery, City University of New York.
We had the chance to catch up with Bland at the opening, as well as Tarrytown-based artist Catherine Latson.
Profiled in our September 2014 issue, Latson has several works in the show, including the stunning “Tapioca Bride” gown on display in the museum’s Glenview mansion, where the intricate insect-themed installation of Jennifer Angus also dazzles.
The show is one to spend time with – and we’re already planning a return visit to further explore its treasures.
As Bland said during the opening, “Who doesn’t like Gilded-Age glamour, really?”
“The Neo-Victorians: Contemporary Artists Revive Gilded-Age Glamour,” with related programming, continues through May 13 at the Hudson River Museum, 511 Warburton Ave., Yonkers.
For more, visit hrm.org.
– Mary Shustack
