The Hyde Collection Celebrates Summer Exhibitions

Abstract Artist John Van Alstine and Iconic Printmaker José Guadalupe Posada

Glens Falls, NY – The Hyde Collection presents two new summer exhibitions, sharing the works of two outstanding artists. Opening Saturday, June 11, 2022, are the exhibitions: Transformations: The Art of John Van Alstine and José Guadalupe Posada: Legendary Printmaker of Mexico. The exhibitions are open to the public from June 11 – September 18, 2022, Thursday through Sunday from 10 am –5 pm.

“The art of José Guadalupe Posada and John Van Alstine are quintessential of their time and particular corner of this great American continent,” remarked Jonathan Canning, Director of Curatorial Affairs and Programming. He continued, “Steeped in both the indigenous and European traditions of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Mexico, Posada harnessed the power of modern printing to promote his art and engage the people. Van Alstine, an Adirondack native, is well-versed in the Classical and Eastern philosophies that underpin modern America, its “can-do” spirit, and the country’s great industrial legacy and awesome natural resources. I can think of no other continent on which either artist could thrive than ours.”

Commented artist John Van Alstine, “The interaction of materials, primarily stone and found object metal, is central to my work. On the most basic level, the sculpture explores the marriage of nature to the built environment. The duality of an eastern or Asian acceptance of stone, combined with a twentieth-century American “can do” attitude embodied in the steel, is at the conceptual core of my work.”

Transformations: The Art of John Van Alstine: June 11–September 18

John Van Alstine has been described as an abstract artist with a keen sense of composition, who evokes narratives from inanimate objects, and a sculptor who finds the balance and energy in the moment. At the intersection between wild nature and technology, Van Alstine works at the nexus of natural forces and the manmade. This career retrospective examines recurrent themes drawn from Greek and Roman mythology, celestial navigation, and the human figure in Western art. He responds to the tension between Nature and the American drive to command and shape the environment to their will. The curator for the exhibition is Caroline M. Welsh.

Related Programming:

Meet-and-Greet with Artist John Van Alstine, June 11 @ 1:00 pm–4:00 pm

Celebrate the opening of Transformations: The Art of John Van Alstine with an opportunity to view the exhibition and meet the artist. John Van Alstine will be on-site to answer any questions, engage in conversation, and sign copies of his book John Van Alstine Sculpture 1971-2018. Books will be available for purchase. Free for Members / Free for non-members with Museum admission.

Conversation with Artist John Van Alstine & Curator Tom Moran, June 25 @ 4:00 pm–5:30 pm Join artist John Van Alstine in conversation with curator Tom Moran, former Chief Curator at Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey. Transformations: The Art of John Van Alstine is an opportunity to view a retrospective of Van Alstine’s work that examines recurrent themes. John Van Alstine has been described as an abstract artist with a keen sense of composition, who evokes narratives from inanimate objects, and a sculptor who finds the balance and energy in the moment. Tom Moran served as the Chief Curator at Grounds For Sculpture from 2011 to 2020 and is the Exhibition Curator for Bruce Beasley: Sixty Year Retrospective, 1960-2020. Free for Members / Free for non-members with Museum admission.

Transformations: The Art of John Van Alstine + Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company, Saturday, August 6 @ 2:00 pm

The Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company returns to The Hyde Collection to present a site-specific concert created in response to Transformations: The Art of John Van Alstine, featuring guitarist Maria Zemantauski. Spanning two large galleries, Van Alstine’s work offers a heightened experience for both the audience and the dancer of a simultaneous sense of weight and floating that occurs when natural stone and manmade objects are combined. Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company and Van Alstine have collaborated before, and each experience opens new expanses, queries, and ultimately, a new vision between choreographer and sculptor. Free for Members / Free for non-members with Museum admission.

José Guadalupe Posada: Legendary Printmaker of Mexico June 11–September 18

José Posada (1852-1913) dominated Mexico’s first communications revolution in the late nineteenth century. His art was ubiquitous, published in daily newspapers, cheap paperback books, board games, advertising flyers, revolutionary broadsides, and religious tracts. His Calaveras, or skeletons, became iconic. By visually combining an indigenous reverence for the dead with a devout Catholic veneration of the souls of the departed, he created humorous, satirical, and insightful commentaries on the issues of the day that influenced such later artists as Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. The exhibition was organized by the Catalina Island Museum in association with the Posada Art Foundation.

Related Programming:

Presentation with Jim Nikas, José Guadalupe Posada: Legendary Printmaker of Mexico, June 11 @ 2:00

pm–3:30 pm

Join Jim Nikas, Director of the Posada Art Foundation, for a tour of the José Guadalupe

Posada: Legendary Printmaker of Mexico exhibition and a special presentation to celebrate the

exhibition's opening at The Hyde. Free for Members / Free for non-members with Museum admission.