Best Art Bets for Memorial Day Weekend in The Hamptons

Memorial Day Weekends are typically wild in The Hamptons. Crowds spill into the string of seaside Main Streets with the promise of warm weather and summer's start and create a festive time. Traffic also arrives making planning essential. To help make the most of your holiday weekend, Hamptons Art Hub has compiled our list of the best bets for art and culture in The Hamptons this Memorial Day Weekend. Expect the unexpected in the following art exhibitions and cultural events taking place this Memorial Day Weekend in The Hamptons.

Radical Seafaring at The Parrish Art Museum

One of the most ambitious shows ever to be presented at The Parrish, "Radical Seafaring" is a must-see exhibition during a Hamptons stay. A survey of sorts of performance art taking place on the water or with water as major player in the art making, the exhibition represents around 10 years of noting the emergence of a new way artists are making use of nature in their conceptual art. Expect to find soaring homemade vessels, shanty songs sung by a chorus, a barge that sales around Manhattan island, a series of detailed drawings and plenty of art and objects to ponder.

A guided tour by docents takes place on Saturday at 1 p.m. that's free with museum admission. Or, head to The Parrish on Friday night to see the exhibition and then catch the first concert in the "Jazz en Plein Air" season featuring a performance by Emilio Solla Tango Jazz Quartet on Friday, May 27, 2016 at 6 p.m. The concert takes place outside on the Mildred C. Brinn Terrace.

Click here to read a Hamptons Art Hub art review by Eric Ernst on "Radical Seafaring."

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Trish Brown Dance Company's Site-Specific Dance at Watermill Center

The Watermill Center brings an unusual dance performance to Robert Wilson's international creative incubator when "Trisha Brown: In Plain Site" is performed on Saturday and Sunday, May 28 & 29, 2016 at 5 p.m. On Saturday, a VIP pre-performance event begins at 3:45 p.m. In Plain Site" is a selection of material from the Trisha Brown Dance Company’s extensive repertoire that's been specifically adapted for the Watermill Center locale. The site-specific performance piece not only frees the dancers from the constrictions of the conventional stage but it will allow viewers to witness the interpretation of Watermill Center spaces in a new way. The audience will follow TBDC’s seven dancers as they move across Watermill’s 8 ½ acre grounds, making use of The Center’s raised performance platforms in the woods, as well as the gardens and grassy meadow.

While there, be sure to experience "Basco Vazko: Post", a site-specific installation that fills an entire room of the Watermill Center with Vazko's conceptual art. The exhibition runs through June 17, 2016. Check back next week to read a feature on the exhibition which was made during Vazko's recent residency at the Watermill Center.

Admission to the Trisha Brown Dance Company's performance is $40. The VIP Pre-Show is $125 and begins at 3:45 p.m. on Saturday. Watermill Center is located at 39 Watermill Towd Road, Water Mill, NY 11976. www.watermillcenter.org.

Click here for event details.

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Opening Celebration for Summer of Sculpture

The Springs Improvement Society and Guild Hall's Director and Chief Curator Christina Mossaides Strassfield launch an innovative public art installation set in the heart of The Springs, located outside of East Hampton Village. Eleven sculptures have been installed in the Historic Springs District for summer 2016. A kick off celebration takes place on Sunday, May 29, 2019 from 5 to 7 p.m. The celebration features live music by Job Potter and Friends and rum tastings by Montauk Rumrunners.

The artists selected for Summer of Sculpture are James DeMartis, Elaine Grove, Phyllis Baker Hammond, Marcie Honerkamp, Bill Kiriazis, Robert Leibel, Dennis Leri, Paul Pavia, Philip Pavia, Robert Rustman and Aurelio Torres. The exhibition is curated by Christina Mossaides Strassfield, Guild Hall Museum Director/Chief Curator.

Ashawagh Hall is located at 780 Springs Fireplace Rd (at Old Stone Hwy.), East Hampton, N.Y. 11937.

A Quogue Saturday

Quogue is more known for its quiet rural quality and historic estates than for a vibrant contemporary art scene. This Saturday shakes up the perception with the season opener at the Quogue Gallery, a contemporary art exhibition at the Quogue Library and the opening weekend of a new Hampton Theater Company production. Taken together, a full day can be spent immersed in visual art and culture in the Village of Quogue.

Consider starting the afternoon at the Quogue Library Gallery where work by East Hampton artist Arlene Slavin has art exhibited inside the gallery and outside on the grounds. Slavin was the featured sculptor at Guild Hall Museum last year and her colorful work still adorns the windows above the entrance of Guild Hall. The Quogue Library is located at 90 Quogue Street in Quogue.

Quogue Gallery opens its summer season with "Jay Milder ‘Noah’s Ark—Many Views’". An Opening Reception takes place on Saturday, May 28, 2016 from 4 to 7 p.m. The show includes major paintings and new works on paper. Quogue Gallery is located at 44 Quogue Street, Quogue, NY 11959. www.quoguegallery.com.

Afterwards, consider attending the Hampton Theater Company's production of "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike" by Christopher Durang, a madcap take on themes by playwright and short story writer Anton Chekhov that highlights the absurdities and agonies of 21st century life. The Saturday production begins 8 p.m. Additional performance are offered Thursdays and Fridays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. through June 12, 2016. This is the final production of HTC's 2015-16 season. Admission is $30, $25 for seniors, $10 for students. Quogue Community Hall is located at 125 Jessup Avenue, Quogue, NY 11959. Click here for event details.

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Gallery Hopping in East Hampton Village

Many of the art galleries in East Hampton Village are opening their exhibition season with new shows and exhibition receptions this weekend. Nearly all are within distance along Newtown Lane allowing for a full day of viewing contemporary and modern art in East Hampton. On exception is the Pollock Krasner House & Study Center which has an Opening Reception and Artist Talk on Sunday, May 29, 2016, from 5 to 7 p.m. for its first exhibition of the season, "Philip Pavia: Sculpture and Drawings". Philip Pavia's widow, the painter Natalie Edgar, and his son, sculptor Paul Pavia, will talk informally about the artist's philosophy and artistic practice.

The show presents Pavia's drawings from the 1960s and reveal how he worked out ideas for sculptural forms. Three of his marble sculptures, including Lily Pond, is part of the "Summer of Sculpture" which also kicks off on Sunday. A review on "Philip Pavia: Sculpture and Drawings" will be published in the upcoming weeks at Hamptons Art Hub.

Meanwhile, along Newtown Lane, two shows consider the flowers:  A pop up show at Eileen Fisher features seascapes and wild flowers painted by Casey Chalem Anderson that combines her love of the natural world with that for Peconic Land Trust in special event taking place on Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m. A few doors down, Eric Firestone, presents its season opener "Fresh Cuts", which present contemporary artists reconsider the flower. An Opening Reception takes place from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Also opening for the season is Lawrence Fine Art. "Stan Brodsky at 91" is the first show unveiling a summer long program of spotlighting artists in their 80s and 90s. An Opening Reception for the celebrated Long Island painter takes place on Saturday, May 28, 2016 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Stan Brodsky is known for his landscapes painted in a loose abstracted style and his explorations of mood. He has exhibited extensive across Long Island including at the Nassau County Museum of Art and the Heskscher Museum of Art and Gallery North. Lawrence Fine Art is located at 37 Newtown Lane, East Hampton, New York 11937. www.lawrence-fine-arts.com.

If you're searching for even more art, a pop up show of rock and roll photography as its Opening Reception on Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m. at The Studio, which holds art classes for children and adults. "Part I: Iconic Photography" features works by Marcia Resnick, Jack Mitchell, Keith Green and others. Park in the East Hampton long term parking lot and take a shuttle with Montauk Best Taxi as there's no parking at the art school, located around the corner from the East Hampton Rail Road Station at 38 Gingerbread Lane.

With the quartet of art opening receptions, it's worth considering spending the afternoon visiting the 10 galleries that are all located on or around Newtown Lane. Consider starting with the newest gallery to open its doors, Art Space 98, presenting a two-person show of its artist-owners, located at 98 Newtown Lane (near the Railroad Station) and working your way toward the other end to attend receptions rolling from 4 to 9:30 p.m. By then, the traffic would have calmed and the restaurants might have an open table.

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Gallery Hopping in Bridgehampton

Bridgehampton has come into its own as a destination for art galleries in The Hamptons. The newest arrival is the Celadon Gallery & Ceramics Shop set around the corner from Main Street on Bridgehampton Sag Harbor Turnpike. The current exhibition, "Bloom" features invited ceramic artists Alicia Mack, Shari McWilliams, Matt Nolen, Helen Otterson, Aysha Peltz, Claire Prenton, Helena Starcevic and Gerbi Tsesarskaia. The exhibition features fine art ceramics, both sculptural and functional, that expresses the theme “ceramics celebrating nature”.

The majority of Celadon Clay Art Gallery and Shop is devoted to changing exhibitions by invited ceramicists, smaller items are offered for sale in its shop. Expect to find both functional ceramics and smaller fine art pieces. Find them at 128 Bridgehampton - Sag Harbor Turnpike, Bridgehampton, NY 11932. www.hamptonsclayart.org.

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Staying along Main Street allows for visitors to zig zag among several galleries within a few steps of each other. At the east end, expect to find Chase Edwards Gallery who is opening its first exhibition of the season, "Under The Influence" with an Opening Reception on Saturday, May 28, 2016 from 6 to 9 p.m. The show features works by Athos Zacharias, Tim Bessell, Matt Neuman and Kal Mansur. Mark Borghi Gallery features work by Duayne Hatchett and Neil Williams  that presents a study of shape and form. At The White Room Gallery, a "Part II: The Golden Age of Rock 'n Roll" holds its Opening Reception on Sunday, May 29, 2016 from 5 to 7 p.m. Click here for details.

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Kathryn Markel Fine Arts officially launches the season for its Bridgehampton gallery next week with the solo show "Marcelyn McNeil: Recent Paintings." For Memorial Day Weekend, the gallery presents a survey of gallery favorites in "Spring Gallery Group" featuring paintings by Lisa Breslow, Julian Jackson, Sara Maccullouch, Debra Smith, Denise Regan, Josette Urso, and Mary Didoardo. The gallery is located at 2428 Montauk Hwy. Bridgehampton, NY 11032. Click here for details.

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Don't worry if Memorial Day Weekend comes and goes and there was art left unseen. The galleries and art museums are open all season (in fact, many year round, so the opportunity to view art in The Hamptons isn't lost when the light begins to fade on Memorial Day Monday.

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