Each month, filmmaker Stephen Blauweiss visits with artists and explores the galleries and museums of the Hudson Valley for our monthly video web series, “ArtScene.” Here, Stephen gives a behind-the-scenes look at what to expect in this month’s segments, featuring photographer Carolyn Marks Blackwood, multimedia artist Elisa Pritzker, and Wishbone Letterpress. As told to Brian K. Mahoney.
Carolyn Marks Blackwood: photographer
Carolyn is a nature photographer. One of the things I love most about her is that she finds 95 percent of her photos within a mile or two or her home in Dutchess County. And she doesn’t let up: I’ve been following her for a year now on Facebook and every few days she posts some incredible new photos she’s captured. Her background is in painting, which is clear looking at her photos. Carolyn’s aesthetic vision is so strong in composition and subject matter. Her water shots even take on a graphic quality.An exhibition of Blackwood’s photographs, “Adrift,” will open at the Fisher Center at Bard College on June 20, reception from 5-7 pm, and will be exhibited through the end of August.
Elisa Pritzker: 2D and 3D visual artist
I knew Elisa before I made a film about her, but I really got to know her working on the piece. I identified with the strong environmental theme in her work, and the way she integrates branches, fur, photography, and painting. One thing intrinsic in her work is the Selknam Indians, an indigenous Argentinean/Chilian tribe. Elisa grew up in Argentina, so the Selknam’s body art is a big influence on her, and I got some nice footage of her technique of spontaneously designing.Elisa Pritzker will host open studio visits on June 7 and June 14 from 1 to 5pm (or by appointment) at Casa del Arte in Highland. Elisapritzker.com
Wishbone Letterpress:Artisanal printing press
Danielle Bliss and Joe Venditti are both natives of the area who have made a thriving business out of their craft. Danielle and Joe also have a studio in the same building I do, the Shirt Factory here in Kingston. The neat thing is, they use several hundred year-old technology in conjunction with 21st-century technology—they use computers to design the plates for their letterpress printer.
On the Cover: Mike Cockrill
Mike Cockrill has invented a character—Existential Man—who seems to have stepped out of the 1960's but who, unlike the confident adman in his Brooks Brothers suit, is a hapless middle-manager in a short-sleeved cotton-poly shirt, with a bad buzz cut.
