Garrison Art Center Announces Debra Ramsay & Leslie Roberts Exhibition ‘A Field Guide to Birds’
Debra Ramsay & Leslie Roberts | A Field Guide to Birds
Exhibition Dates: April 13 – May 5, 2024
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 13, 2024, 5 – 7 pm
Artist Talk: May 5, 3:30 – 4:30 pm
Contact: Kate Cahill, Exhibitions Coordinator, [email protected]
LEFT: Debra Ramsey, Prothonotary Warbler, 2022, 5.25” x 8.25” x .75”, acrylic on cast acrylic panel
RIGHT: Leslie Roberts, Birds with Prominent Yellow, 2020, 10” x 8”, acrylic gouache, colored pencil, ink, graphite on ⅜” MDF panel
March 26, 2024, Garrison, NY – Garrison Art Center (GAC) is pleased to announce ‘A Field Guide To Birds,’ an exhibition of acrylic slabs by artist Debra Ramsay, and panels by Leslie Roberts. The exhibition will run from April 13 – May 5, 2024. There will be an opening reception on Saturday, April 13, from 5 – 7 pm.
The pieces in the exhibit by Debra Ramsay and Leslie Roberts constitute an unconventional taxonomy of birds. Both artists present highly optical, color-focused work made through processes driven by ornithological data. Roberts’s panels hold written lists of bird families or species diagrammed into
pattern-like formations. Each of Ramsay’s reductive compositions on translucent slabs captures the
essence of a single bird species. Considerable research is embedded in these artists’ work, and for
both, the viewer’s visual experience is primary. Like the guides by Petersen and Audubon, these artists’ works catalog ornithological nomenclature and record observations of birds’ plumage and behavior. Ramsay and Roberts translate this data into direct sensory experiences that parallel their avian subjects.’
Alongside Debra Ramsay’s artwork will be QR codes to lead viewers to ‘All About Birds,’ where they can listen to the sounds of the birds featured in Ramsay’s work. This adds an extra layer of sensory experience to the viewing process, allowing the viewer to not only visually appreciate Ramsay’s art but also immerse themselves in the auditory aspect by hearing the actual bird calls.
In addition to the exhibition, there will be an Artist Talk between Ramsay and Roberts at Garrison Art Center, May 5 from 3:30 – 4:30 pm. This event will be free and open to the public.
‘A Field Guide To Birds’ will be on view in the Balter Gallery, concurrent with ‘Shift,’an exhibition of paintings by M Pettee Olsen in the Gillette Gallery. The Galleries at Garrison Art Center are open Tuesday – Sunday, 10 am – 5 pm, except for the exhibition’s opening day – when the hours are 12 – 7 pm.
Additional Information
To learn more about the artist Debra Ramsay and Leslie Robers, please visit www.debraramsay.com and www.leslierobertsart.com. For information about exhibitions, classes, and other programs at the Garrison Art Center, please visit garrisonartcenter.org or call 845.424.3960. Join the conversation via Instagram @GarrisonArtCenter.
About The Garrison Art Center
The Garrison Art Center (GAC), located in Garrison, NY, is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit arts and education organization founded in 1964. GAC is committed to making a difference by providing access to the visual arts to a diverse audience of learners, professional artists, community members, collectors, families, and friends from varied ethnic, cultural, geographic and economic backgrounds.
