Gallery exhibits new work by two artists who incorporate textiles in unconventional ways

“WEAVING MEANING: Works by Arlene Baker and Ralph Caparulo” at the Albany Center Gallery begins August 28 and closes October 6. Both artists will attend the opening reception September 7 from 5:00pm to 9:00pm in the gallery, and an artist talk will be held on October 5 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the gallery. The gallery will be filled with over 40 new images from both of these regionally based artists.

Currently a resident of Schenectady, NY, Arlene Baker was born and raised in New York City, and soon became a successful international artist. Her studies include attending such universities as Minnesota and Iowa, receiving her B.A., M.A., and M.F.A. Ms. Baker’s post-graduate studies include attending the Sir Jon Cass School of Art and the Morley School of Art, both of which are located in London. Arlene Baker’s art can be described as “Rothko-like” with a life of their own. Her “silk series” paintings explore horizons, color and veils. Baker literally veils her paintings, layering surfaces with diaphanous material, “painting” them with silk. Although Baker’s work is sometimes classified as “fiber art,” she believes that this is merely a description of the materials that she uses, not of her aesthetic. Baker finds that the softness of the silk leads her to a sense of the “sublime,” which the philosopher Kant characterizes as a sense of boundlessness, the transcendence to be found in a formless object, like a horizon. Baker’s work are part of the collection at the Manufacturer’s Bank in Detroit, The University of Iowa and well as numerous private collections.

Ralph Caparulo moved in the summer of 1996 with his wife, Nancy, from their New Jersey home of 15 years to a 200 year-old farmhouse in Galway, NY. Originally from New Haven, Connecticut, Ralph Caparulo graduated from Silvermine College of Art (AD), the University of Hartford Art School (BFA), and the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Art (MFA). Caparulo is presently a member of the faculty of the Schenectady County Community College. Using leather, found objects or fabricated elements together with strong influence of Japanese design principles, Caparulo’s work is at once enigmatic and orderly, primitive yet polished, timeless and often whimsical. He draws on a considerable knowledge of meso-American, Egyptian, Norse and Japanese folklore and mythology for inspiration. These cultural sites have captivated and continue to fascinate him and are the focus for much of his continuous study. Widely shown in juried and invitational venues across the US and Canada, Mr. Caparulo’s art is found in permanent collections of several museums in New Jersey (the Noyes and Bergen) and Pennsylvania (The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts) and, more locally, the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls. He has a coveted (by sculptors) membership in the North American Sculpture Center in Golden, Colorado, and has won numerous awards and fellowships for his creativity and accomplishments.

The mission of the Albany Center Gallery is to promote and exhibit contemporary visual art produced by emerging and established artists living primarily in the Capital Region. The gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday, noon to 5:00pm. The gallery is located at 39 Columbia Street, Albany, New York, 12207.

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