Karin Waisman: The Horizon Is Not a Straight Line

Gallery Talk: Karin Waisman in conversation with Estrellita Brodsky PhD: May 8 at 3pm

Woodhouse Gallery 
Curator: Christina Strassfield 

Karin Waisman is an Argentinian, multidisciplinary artist whose practice investigates the rhythmic cadence and pulsating patterns of nature. Her work includes large-scale public installations, wall reliefs, and drawings that explore our perception of the natural world— its fluid and contradictory processes, boundless growth, and imminent threat of disorder. In this new exhibition at Guild Hall, Waisman will present The Horizon Is Not a Straight Line, a site specific, 250-inch long cast resin and ceramic wall relief that investigates the notion of the border, conceiving it not as a straight line but a complex contact point between two elements that push and pull while continuing to support one another. Also included are two series of Waisman’s pencil drawings on mylar. The first, Fragments of a Mountain (2018–2021), studies the passage of geological time, absolute and determined by emptiness. Hundreds of years of erosion expose cavities in rock that hold humidity and debris. The second series, titled The Ocean Drawings (2012-2014), immerses the viewer into varying depths, currents, and temperatures, evoking oceanic currents that move us deeper then closer to the surface. The final and earliest work, Siren’s Beach (1996), unfolds across the floor in a cast-aluminum sculpture depicting a segment of desiccated land fragmented into a maze of Pythagorean spirals. This is the most in-depth presentation of Waisman’s internationally exhibited collection of work to date. 

Waisman has completed commissions for institutions such as Espacio Escultórico del Desierto in San Luis Potosí, México; Museo del Barrio in New York, NY; Plattsburgh Sculpture Park at SUNY Plattsburgh, NY; ART/OMI Sculpture Park in Ghent, NY; and Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, NY. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the United States and internationally, including Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, NY; Museo del Barrio in New York, NY; SculptureCenter in Long Island City, NY; Point of Contact in Syracuse, NY; Wallace Gallery in SUNY Old Westbury, NY; Neuhoff Gallery in New York, NY; Haim Chanin Fine Arts in New York, NY; Plattsburgh State Art Museum in Plattsburgh, NY; Hartell Gallery at Cornell University, NY; Überseemusum, Bremen; Unesco Institut für Pädagogik in Hamburg, Germany; Bürgerhalle im Rathaus in Wolfsburg, Germany; Museo del Chopo in Mexico City, Mexico; Yvonamore Palix Gallery in Houston, TX; and Fundacion Banco Patricios in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

TIMED TICKETS AND VISITOR INFORMATION

To ensure the health and safety of its visitors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Guild Hall has instituted the following measures:

• Reservations to visit the Museum are recommended. You can reserve timed tickets online or by calling 631-324-0806 Friday-Sunday, 12-5 p.m. Drop-ins are also welcome!
• Visitors are asked to be on time for their appointment. Visits are for a maximum of one hour and no more than 50 people will be allowed in the museum galleries at a time.
• Visitors should enter through the left most front door of the building and check in with the Receptionist at the box office. A one-way footpath proceeds throughout the museum.
• Masks are required in the building for all patrons over the age of 2.
• Social distancing of at least 6 feet is encouraged in the museum galleries and lobby.