Western New York is rich with talented, adventurous artists, who employ a variety of styles and media. In the 2022 edition of the Monroe and Vicinity Biennial, SUNY Brockport celebrates four artists from this region: Jappie King-Black (Brockport), Aaron Delehanty (Spencerport), Heather Layton (Rochester), and Mary Taylor (Rochester). The show will run from October 25 through November 20. The gallery is located at 180 Holley Street, Brockport, and the exhibit is free and open to the public. Gallery hours for this exhibition are Monday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m. An opening reception will take place on Tuesday, October 25, at 4 p.m.
About her work, King-Black has this to say: “The sources of ritual art in so-called ‘primitive’ cultures have always interested me. Some of my work is about storytelling, legends, and mythology… I collect vine and bark, harvesting it all year, to use in my sculptures and installations. Like most artists, the concepts behind my work are personal. However, I expect my work to speak about nature, metamorphosis, time, loss, and the handmade object. My work has changed and evolved over many years. I primarily use fibers and mixed media to make things. When you look at my portfolio you should see recurring threads.
Like King-Black, Delehanty’s work is an exploration of the interaction between the natural world and mankind. He is the staff artist at the Rochester Museum and Science Center in Rochester, where he builds dioramas, makes hyper realistic replications of artifacts, paints murals, and creates all kinds of convincingly realistic landforms for the museum’s exhibits. You can also see his work at the Field Museum in Chicago. He has exhibited widely and his work has been featured in New American Paintings and TEDx Flour City.
Like the other two artists, Taylor’s art is also steeped in nature. Her parents were ornithologists; she gleaned her love of birds and nature from them. She feels that her process is more than the sum of its parts and explains that “the wildlife sculptures I create are more than art made of steel or bronze rods. They represent a powerful connection to and understanding of the grand forces of nature. From interior natural images to exterior sculptures, all of my works are based on unique and intricate patterns of realistic animation that capture a timeless strength of spirit and intensity of aliveness. They are an announcement, a reminder, a heralding of our natural heritage.”
Layton is a multidisciplinary artist and educator with a creative practice that weaves making, teaching and citizen diplomacy. Her paintings and installations, often inspired by current sociopolitical events, have been exhibited nationally and globally. She is a senior lecturer of art at the University of Rochester, where she teaches painting, mixed media, and performance art. Over the past 10 years, she has worked to develop cross-cultural partnerships with artists in countries including Saudi Arabia, India, Pakistan, Gambia, Uruguay, Bahrain and South Korea. These partnerships impact her art in various ways. She says “When I listen to news about distant, dangerous countries, I cannot help but think that at the same moment, a woman is singing lullabies to her infant in Saudi Arabia, a grandfather is cutting into a pineapple in Myanmar… Through mixed media painting, installation, performance, and teaching, I hope to make the foreign feel familiar and create opportunities for each of us to see the humanity in each other.” Despite all of the bad news in the world, she remains stubbornly optimistic.
SUNY Brockport’s up-to-date COVID-19 prevention guidelines can be found at the ticketing website (fineartstix.brockport.edu), the Fine Arts Series Facebook page, and at http://brockport.edu/coronavirus. Compliance with campus protocols is required in order to attend any performances or events.
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