Upstate Art Weekend 2023

Friday July 21–Sunday, July 23, 2023
Opening reception Saturday, July 22, 3–7 PM

Join us for an incredible lineup of events in collaboration with Upstate Art Weekend.
Currently on view: Martine Kaczynski, Threshold and Adam Liam Rose, Tohu va-Vohu

Andy Šlemenda, Hymn/Hiss, 2023, performance and mixed media installation with Reverend Mother Grace Ferris

Garden reception at Turley Gallery
Saturday, July 22, 3–7 PM

3 PM
Artist discussion with exhibiting artists Martine Kaczynski and Adam Liam Rose led by Joan Grubin.

4 PM
Opera singers Sungyeun Kim and Maria Giovanetti will perform in collaboration with Martine Kaczynski’s exhibition Threshold in the main gallery.

Léo Delibes, Duo des fleurs / Flower Duet (opera Lakmé)
Ferdinand Gumbert, O bitt' euch liebe Vögelein / Oh please, dear little birds

5 PM
Andy Šlemenda, Hymn/Hiss

Performance and installation featuring Reverend Mother Grace Ferris

Hymn/Hiss envisions the transformation of a backwoods vigilante into a genderqueer trickster.

This installation-based performance crosses the bounds of a divided America, blurring class, spiritual traditions, and the freedom of expression. By resurfacing suppressed, gender-nonconforming religious icons, such as the bearded femme: Saint Wilgefortis, Šlemenda refutes the Christian right’s delegitimization of the trans* community. This work continues Šlemenda’s exploration of LGBTQI+ spiritual histories, engaging with contemporary queer practitioners of faith.

The transformation will be set against a stacked hay bale structure. A call and response with the audience in honor of Saint Wilgefortis’ feast day will be led by Reverend Mother Grace Ferris of Saint Wilgefortis Trans Mission, Schenectady, NY, a spiritual home for the trans* community.

6–7 PM
Opening reception for The Garden’s 2023 artists: Francine Hunter McGivern, Martine Kaczynski, Rachel Owens, Courtney Puckett, Andy Šlemenda, and Barbara Westermann.

Also on view during Upstate Art Weekend:
Daniel Giordano at NADA Foreland 2023

Installation photography by Spencer House Studio