(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Ambulance Blues, a group exhibition curated by Erin Falls and featuring works by a dozen-and-a-half artists, goes on view in the brand new Basilica Back Gallery (located behind Kite’s Nest) at Basilica Hudson on Saturday, August 2, 2014, and will remain on display through Monday, August 18. The show is a cooperative venture between Basilica Hudson and Retrospective Gallery (711 & 727 Warren Street, Hudson N.Y.). There will be an opening reception on Saturday, August 2, from 7 to 9pm, immediately followed by an after-party live show featuring Big French, Lissy Trullie and Imaad Wasif with Brian Chase at 9pm.

Ambulance Blues features work by Rey Akdogan, Polly Apfelbaum, Uri Aran, Donald Baechler, Milano Chow, Peter Coffin, Ann Craven, Sam Falls, Deborah Falls, Jack Goldstein, Elias Hansen, Marc Hundley, Mirabelle Marden, Nancy Shaver, Matt Sheridan Smith, Jordan Wolfson, and Joe Zorrilla with performances by Mick Barr and Skint.

Gallery hours are Friday through Sunday from noon to 5pm and by appointment. For appointments email info@retrospectivegallery.com or call 518-828-2288.

Says curator Erin Falls, “We live in a state of constant flux and communication, yet this hyper-connectivity somehow feels more disconnected than times when we had less options and ways to communicate. I see a lot of people making artwork out of this place – disconnected objects, fragmentations, deconstructions – but without the actual answer or response or cure or even recognition of this feeling. The artworks are considered ‘progressive’ but are themselves disconnected and fragmented, without any real acknowledgment of that fact. So even though they may be a ‘sign of the times’, they also just tend to blend blandly with the background becoming sterile purposeless objects.

For Ambulence Blues, I wanted to include works that went beyond this idea of progressive. The artists included understand what it means to create a relic of a difficult world in flux with the desire to refocus our attention to something better. There is a real sadness and loneliness in recognizing this disconnected feeling and the works here evoke this. Even further, the works exhibit continuous movement beyond this by reaching towards something sublime. Good art is about knowing and feeling that you live in a fucked up world but still being able to pull out the good human parts and point towards them.

Along with this, I chose the artists for the way they approach the creation of their art and a kind of honesty of spirit that is apparent in their work. It’s more about the idea and image you have of the person creating the work than any sort of special talent or technical capacity.”

An exhibition at Retrospective’s Warren Street space will also take place on Saturday, August 2, opening from 5-7pm, with work by Dean Levin.

About Basilica Hudson

Artist owned and operated since 2010, Basilica Hudson is a reclaimed 19th century factory converted into an art, performance, production and event space. Only two hours from New York City, and located just steps from the Hudson Amtrak station on the waterfront of the historic city of Hudson, New York. The 17,000 square feet of a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces constructed of industrial materials with a diverse floor plan, makes Basilica Hudson an ideal location for music, film and art festivals and events.