10 / 24
10
Current Exhibitions
Images:
Self Portrait with Saw
, William Utermohlen;
Bus to Borough Park / Lee Avenue
, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, William Castellana
WilliamUtermohlen:
A Persistence of Memory
February 6–July 23, 2016
In 1995, William Utermohlen was diagnosed with
Alzheimer’s disease. For the next seven years,
Utermohlen continued to make art as the disease
progressed. LUMA’s exhibition of over 100 works of art
shows the impact of this debilating disease on the art-
ist’s creative output.
During this last period of his life, although feeling
increasingly isolated in verbal communication,
Utermohlen continued to produce meaningful images
of himself and his surroundings. Indeed, if one was
not aware of the artist’s declining memory, one might
perceive him as moving into a new body of work of
increasing abstraction.
Significant research has been done on the impact of the
visual and musical arts to improve self-esteem, increase
attention span and reduce the feeling of isolation that
is a normal occurrence as the disease progresses.
The part of the brain responsible for creativity is one
of the last affected despite the earlier loss of verbal
communication.
The exhibition is held in conjunction with LUMA’s
ilLUMAnations program that uses the arts to engage
Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers. The program
is offered in partnership with Northwestern University’s
Cognitive Neurology and Alzhiemer’s Disease Center.
WilliamCastellana: SouthWilliamsburg
February 6–July 23, 2016
William Castellana is an internationally known fine arts
photographer. For 20 years, he has been a resident of South
Williamsburg, Brooklyn. His neighbors are a community of
Hassidic Jews who lead their lives quite separate from the
increasingly secular and “hip” Williamsburg community.
In 33 candid black and white photographs Castellana
provides a glimpse into a very different American life; one
proscribed by strict rules, customs, and dress codes that
originated in early 19th century Eastern Europe. The images
depict the modesty of women’s clothing and hair and the
prevalence of local stores that cater to Hasidim living an
orthodox life. The contrast with New York’s fast-paced
secularism is stark.
Castellana works in the tradition of such street
photographers as Lee Friedlander, Robert Frank, and Gary
Winogrand. They believed that photography offered a
means to “deeply describe” daily life in the world around
them. Castellana himself has said: “Street photography,
for me, is about fidelity and frankness. It’s about the
preservation of a time and place, and I think that’s what
street photography can do when it’s at its best.”
In light of LUMA’s mission to explore humankind’s spiritual
quest as expressed through art, this exhibition highlights
for those of devout faith the question, What does it mean to
lead a devoutly religious life in modern America?
Established as a pilot program in 2013, LUMA runs 9 ses-
sions a year in workshops that combine art, dance, or music
with a social hour in which the participants discuss what
they experienced.