Ann Street Gallery welcomes new exhibit, director

By CLOEY CALLAHAN
Posted 4/14/21

Safe Harbors of the Hudson has opened its Ann Street Gallery for its spring exhibition, “Answer Tell Pray Answer Look Tell Answer Answer Tell,” named after a code that Harry Houdini and …

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Ann Street Gallery welcomes new exhibit, director

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Safe Harbors of the Hudson has opened its Ann Street Gallery for its spring exhibition, “Answer Tell Pray Answer Look Tell Answer Answer Tell,” named after a code that Harry Houdini and his wife conceived of to speak to each other in the afterlife. It runs from April 1 to June 20 and will examine “various expressions of code.” The exhibition, curated by Kiyoto Koseki, includes work from artists Elena Ailes, CFGNY, Nolan Oswald Dennis, Laurel Schwulst, and Kevin Zhu.

Koseki invited artists “who are working in ways with transmuting languages, or languages of certain franchises.”

“Adopting codes from dressing, sporting, gaming, building, and teaching, the participating authors each point to industrial supply chains and the potential for outsourced expansion,” reads the Ann Street Gallery’s website on the exhibit. “But just as codes implicate specific decoders, they are also bound to corruption. Where the franchise privileges efficiency and uniformity across space, minimizing margins of error, the exhibited works encourage open modes of negotiating distance. Standardized tools relied upon to maintain likeness here serve to enhance subtle variations in form and reception.”

Inside the exhibit has several articles of clothing on one side, which could be representative of the clothing franchise, several wood structures in the middle, representative of the construction industry, and then a chalkboard wall with several interpretations of Karl Marx’s “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce” quote, representative of schools and institutions.

“He was interested in the idea of code and how it sort of can traverse long distances but in some ways over time become mutated or deteriorated, but saw that as an opportunity to grow when they change over time or change through translation or transmission” said Ann Street Gallery Director Diana Mangaser.

While they have in-depth gallery guides, including supplemental information online, Mangaser said what she likes about this work “is that there are elements to it that can remind people of experiencing those different types of franchises.”

“They all refer to things that are outside the gallery, but they’re in here,” said Mangaser.

The spring exhibition is the first with Mangaser. Mangaser joined the Safe Harbors team in January 2021, bringing new ideas and a new vision for the gallery. She has a background in arts education and, in Newburgh, has been involved in Artist in Vacancy, which is a “a creative initiative addressing vacancy & abandonment by re-imagining vacant sites as places for community engagement, artistic production, aesthetic & cultural research, and renewed inhabitation,” made possible by the Newburgh Community Land Bank. She has resided in Newburgh for nearly a decade.

One of the biggest changes Mangaser has taken on is creating an open reading room, located at the back of the gallery, which will be for “community workshops, events and home to artists’ books, ephemera and recommended reading.”

At the front of the gallery, which might look a little different to some since it was last an office space, will now be used as an “open flex space” that operates like a storefront.

“Hopefully moving forward we’ll be able to engage the community more and have our own printing facility,” said Mangaser. “These are all ideas of ways to build out – in the spirit of DIY – that local, artistic culture that is here and give it a platform, but also expand it.”

The gallery recently received a grant from Arts Mid Hudson, which will allow for more development with the reading room moving forward. Mangaser hopes to see the space be used in different capacities, whether it be for a workshop, a lecture or anything in between.

“I want everything to be very mobile,” said Mangaser. “This whole room could get cleared out, and then showcase video or multimedia work, or be a one-room installation. The whole idea is for the space to be interactive and flexible.”

She imagines the space to be one that is able to have people “engage in art on all these different levels,” and be inclusive, while also taking advantage of the Hudson Valley region and all it has to offer.

“It’s something that could be a catalyst and a positive,” said Mangaser about Newburgh’s location.

Additionally, Mangaser is brainstorming ways to do more digital content in an effort to increase accessibility and have different programming. At the same time, she hopes more people visit the gallery in person.

Ann Street Gallery is located at 104 Ann Street and the exhibition can be visited Thursday and Friday by appointment and on Saturdays from 1 to 5 p.m. The gallery has a 20 person maximum and is following all necessary COVID-19 protocols for safety. For more information, visit annstreetgallery.org.