Hamada in Manhattan
A show of recent work by Hiroyuki Hamada will open at Bookstein Projects in Manhattan today with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. and remain on view through Feb. 15.
The exhibition will include two paintings and three sculptures created over the past three years by Mr. Hamada, who lives and works in East Hampton. Whether operating in two or three dimensions, he uses acrylic, charcoal, enamel, graphite, and oil to create finely textured surfaces and abstract, blunt compositions. His work is executed in black and white with touches of umber, which are achieved by oxidizing metals in the medium.
Art and the Environment
Four artists whose work addresses environmental issues will be joined by Carl Safina, an ecologist and writer, tomorrow at 6 p.m. at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill for a discussion about how art can draw attention to such issues as climate change and environmental degradation.
All four artists are represented in the museum’s current juried exhibition, “Artists Choose Artists.” Lillian Ball, a Southold resident and one of the show’s seven jurors, has worked with wetland issues and habitat preservation from an interdisciplinary background in anthropology, ethnographic film, and sculpture.
Ms. Ball selected Janet Culbertson of Shelter Island and Scott Bluedorn of East Hampton. Ms. Culbertson’s paintings have long focused on the destruction of nature, while Mr. Bluedorn integrates cultural anthropology, primitivism, and nautical tradition into his imagery.
Selected by Alexis Rockman, Irina Alimanestianu combines organic shapes and bold colors in work she has characterized as “a sensory reading of the environment, its past and present, and its vibrational tones that surround and compel me.”
Mr. Safina is the first endowed professor for nature and humanity at Stony Book University. The author of eight books, he has received MacArthur, Pew, and Guggenheim Fellowships and hosted the PBS series “Saving the Ocean.”
Tickets to the talk are $12, free for members and students.
Three at Sara Nightingale
Solo shows of work by Stephanie Brody-Lederman, Christa Maiwald, and Carl Scorza will open at Sara Nightingale Gallery in Sag Harbor with a reception on Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m. and continue through Feb. 12.
“The Urge to Tell the Truth” features Ms. Brody-Lederman’s text-based paintings whose textured scratches, drips, peeling paint, and familiar imagery suggest memory, history, and elusive narratives.
Inspired by such artists as Yayoi Kusama, Frida Kahlo, and Pablo Picasso, the works in Ms. Maiwald’s “Famous Cakes” series pair hand-embroidered images with objects in mini-installations.
Mr. Scorza’s “Cocktail Hour” paintings have been inspired by restaurant and bar culture. “I’m interested in painterly arrangements of bottles, their labels, and the translucent nature of light on glass, both natural and artificial,” he has said.
