Ithaca artist and octogenarian Joy Adams focuses on how old gives way to the new in her piece “Forty Days.” “My own aging process has allowed me to become intensely aware that change is certain,” she said. Credit: Courtesy of Maria Welych | Schweinfurth Art Center

“Made in New York 2024,” at Auburn’s Schweinfurth Art Center, features work created by artists from across our state– from Oneonta and Ithaca, Brooklyn and Syracuse. This is an annual, juried exhibition whose roster of artists shifts from year to year; so do the media and themes explored in each show. The 2024 exhibit will be remembered for its emphasis on portraits, landscapes and turmoil, both personal and societal.

The range of portraits begins with “Bedazzled,” Kathleen Bolin’s oil depicting a young woman; Greg Cost’s “Lindy,” a digital photo of a middle-aged man who still lets his freak flag fly; Zachary Schulman’s “Norris Thompson.” The latter image portrays an urban gardener smack in the middle of greenery.

From there, the show encompasses different kinds of portraits. “Emergence,” a fine oil painting by Lori Farist,” shows a woman in a forest setting, rising out from a mass of green. The background clearly accentuates the portrait.

And Lindsay Guile’s charcoal-and-pastel drawing, “Comfortable,” is both interesting in itself and as part of her work advocating for healthy self images. Indeed, she has described herself as a body and fat-liberation artist. Guile does larger-than-life drawings of her female subjects, inviting models to choose what they want to wear. That could be clothing they’re comfortable with or nothing at all.

There’s also a trio of self portraits, starting with “Domestic,” Sharon Draghi’s archival pigment print. She’s seen at home, with her face pressed up against a wall.  The narrative is open-ended, but the artwork seems to suggest an inner dialogue. How does a person know herself or himself?

In “Self-Portrait with Camo,” Jeffrey Kell has created a ceramic piece incorporating a bust, a bit of camouflage clothing, and a section decorated with an image of a rabbit, and other motifs. Here he’s satirizing the use of camouflage as an everyday clothing item and as a badge of identity. Kell has long utilized satire in his ceramic works: “Beware of Dog” combines a dog’s head, with teeth set in a demonic grin, and the shape of a guided missile.

A third artist, Amber Lia-Kloppel, painted “Renaissance (Reconstruction),”  a oil on linen. She appears in shadows, by a doorway. The work references her experiences of dealing with breast cancer, a mastectomy and surgical reconstruction.

“Made in New York 2024″ also displays varied landscapes, including Dale Inglett’s oil, Forest Floor, Fleeting” and Sandra Kirker’s photo, “Wetland Reflections.”

These and other works demonstrate an ability to interpret a landscape. In her photogravure, “Forever Yours,” Patricia Bacon again finds depth and mood in a rural setting. Over the years, she’s created memorable works depicting a burn pile and an orchard.

Joy Adams’ large oil, “Forty Days,” details a rural area beset by flooding. There, roads need repair, humans are nowhere to be found, and civilization seems to have receded.

In addition, “Reef,” a long, long panoramic film photo/archival inkjet print created by James Young, is interesting visually and conceptually. The artist integrates geography and spirituality into his works.

Other artists approach turmoil from various perspectives. “Covid Camping,” by Robert Morgan, depicts a mobile home in a desert area. The varnished watercolor, on paper, on canvas, doesn’t celebrate the allure of the open road. Rather, it communicates a sense of isolation, of being forced away from society.

Jamie Banes’ mixed-media piece, “Diminished Reach,” is also set in a desolate region. There’s a compound in disrepair and decay, symbolizing larger problems in our society.

Photographer Marna Bell scores with “DEJA VU 2,” an image in which a young girl looks through a window at the scene outside. In one segment of her work, Bell has addressed childhood amnesia and its impact on her life.

A second photographer, Paul Pearce, has long critiqued war as a way of resolving conflicts and reflected on his experiences as a soldier serving in combat in Vietnam. His piece, “You’re Not Welcome,” asks that people not thank him for his service. The work consists of a topographic map, letterpress overprint and a copy of a logbook.

The exhibition, with its display of 70 artworks, is definitely large, and there are definitely interesting pieces that don’t fit neatly into a category. For example, “Abundance,” a fabric and paint mixed-media collage by Lydia Boddie-Rice,” is a colorful, striking creation.

Elsewhere, viewers will encounter “On the Way Home,” another of Robert Glisson’s expressive paintings; Stephen Carlson’s abstract acrylic, “What Almost Was”; “Out of the Blue II,” created by Paul Brandwein with acrylic over paper mache and wood. It’s enigmatic and visually delightful.

Finally, in a show that presents few sculptures, Jaroslava Prihodova’s “Article One” stands out. It was made with wood, concrete, paper and glass. Don’t miss Romilly Rinck’s textile, “Lernaean Hydra.” It’s easily eight feet long and hangs down a gallery wall.

The exhibit, chosen by jurors Juan Perdiguero and Bill Hastings, is on display through April 27 at the Schweinfurth Art Center, 205 Genesee St., Auburn. It’s clearly the main event at Schweinfurth, but the facility is also hosting “Expanded Vision: Two Centuries of Paintings from the Cayuga Museum Collection” and a solo exhibit showcasing the work of Marcellus painter Eric Shute.

Schweinfurth is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Admission is $10.00 for adults, free for members, exhibiting artists and children 12 and younger. For more information, call 315-255-1553.     

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Carl Mellor has done freelance writing for roughly 50 years. He contributed articles to the Syracuse New Times for many years and covered visual arts for that newspaper from 1994 thorugh 2019. He continues...