Summer Preview 2014: New at The Parrish Art Museum

Since the opening of its new building in November of 2012, the Parrish Art Museum has done great things—and with exciting events in store for Summer 2014, the museum is continuing, with unbridled momentum, to highlight art and culture on the East End.

Last summer, the Parrish brought us live outdoor music, cocktails on the terrace and numerous opportunities to mix and mingle alongside great works of art. So what’s in store for this summer?

This season’s exhibitions kick off with “Jennifer Bartlett: History of the Universe—works 1970-2011.” On view through July 13, this is the first major museum survey of Bartlett’s work, and is organized by former Parrish adjunct curator Klaus Ottmann, now Director of the Center for the Study of Modern Art and Curator at Large at The Phillips Collection.

Beginning on July 4 and running through October 13, “Platform: Maya Lin” will feature Lin’s “Pin River–Sandy,” a massive geographical installation depicting the boundaries of Hurricane Sandy’s flood plain, composed of thousands of straight pins. Lin’s marble sculptures “Arctic Circle,” “Latitude New York City” and “Equator,” representing the topographies at each of these positions on the globe, will be installed in concentric rings in the center of the gallery floor. The exhibition also includes three new recycled silver works, “Accabonac Harbor,” “Georgica Pond” and “Mecox Bay.”

“William Glackens” (on view July 20–October 13) will include 75 works on loan from museums and private collections tracing Glackens’ career from the mid-1880s to the 1930s as an important figure in American Modernism and member of The Eight. Glackens’s paintings of Bellport Harbor will be on view.

To enrich your viewing experience, visitors are invited to take part in talks and tours with curators in a program called The Curator’s View. On Sunday, July 20, exhibition curator Avis Berman will be leading a gallery tour of “William Glackens.” On Thursday, June 26, Chief Curator Alicia Longwell will lead a tour on “Jennifer Bartlett: History of the Universe—Works 1970-2011.”

Longwell will also be leading tours of “William Glackens” on Thursday, August 7, and on William Merritt Chase, a major figure of the permanent collection, on Thursday, August 21.

On Thursdays, June 26, August 7 and August 21, take part in “Brain Food: Conversations on Art”—a new series of lunch-hour talks related to the Museum’s special exhibitions and permanent collection—it’s also an opportunity to grab a bite to eat at the delightful Art of Eating Café.

This summer, PechaKucha Night Hamptons is back with Vol. 8, on Friday, June 13. The interactive event is a great opportunity to meet our local artists, writers, musicians, farmers, baymen, winemakers, chefs, designers and more as presenters talk about living creatively on the East End.

Music lovers will revel in Sounds of Summer, which kicks off on Friday, May 23, at 6 p.m. with the HooDoo Loungers and continues on select Fridays through September 5. Free with museum admission, visitors are invited to bring a lawn chair or blanket and enjoy listening to live music on the grass, while sipping on a beverage from the museum café. Alternating Fridays, beginning May 30 at 6 p.m., will be Jazz en Plein Air, featuring live jazz played by musicians selected by Richie Siegler, jazz musician and founding director of Escola de Samba BOOM.

After all the excitement and running around in the summer, relax and be entertained with theater and film. Kurt Vonnegut’s Galápagos, a world premiere theatrical adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s 1985 novel, is the latest from the creative duo Tucker Marder and Christian Scheider. (Monday, July 21, Wednesday, July 23, Thursday, July 24 and Friday, July 25.)

On Friday, August 8, there will be a special screening of the documentary Remembering the Artist: Robert De Niro, Sr. (official selection Sundance Film Festival 2014). De Niro was a celebrated painter obscured by the Pop Art movement, and his life and career are chronicled in the artist’s own words, by his contemporaries and, movingly, by his son, actor Robert De Niro. (According to Parrish Museum Executive Director Terrie Sultan, there are also plans for a future Robert De Niro, Sr. exhibition at the museum.)

And on Friday, August 22, there will be an outdoor screening of Atlantic Vibrations, Vol. 2—short, non-commercial surf movies by emerging and established local filmmakers, selected by film curator and consultant Tyler Breuer, film director Michael Halsband and artist Mike Solomon.

Of course, summer wouldn’t be complete without the Museum’s annual fetes!

Landscape Pleasures Symposium and Cocktail Party, Saturday and Sunday, June 7 and 8, will include a tour of the Southampton Village estate of fashion designer Tory Burch, as well as four other exceptional properties. Landscape Pleasures’ Saturday morning symposium includes presentations by British landscape designer Arne Maynard and renowned historian Martin Filler, among others.

Then there’s the Midsummer Party, on Saturday, July 12. This year’s bash is set to include a stunning atmosphere created by acclaimed event designer Ron Wendt, out-of-this-world catering by Olivier Cheng and the inspiring beats of DJ Coleman. Adding to the excitement this year is an online auction, featuring one-of-a-kind artist experiences.

New this year, and not to be missed, is the installation of two important outdoor sculptures by Roy Lichtenstein, “Tokyo Brushstrokes I” and “Tokyo Brushstrokes II,” 1994—which now sit at the entryway to the Museum, close to and visible from Montauk Highway.

The Parrish Art Museum is located at 279 Montauk Highway in Water Mill. Stay up-to-date with all programs and exhibitions by visiting parrishart.org, or call 631-283-2118.