Exhibitions

Fanfare for America, The Fenimore Museum of Art, Cooperstown, NY

August 5 - October 2, 2022

Just a traditional girl, doing some traditional things. Growing up, my neighbors taught me to embroider and sew. There is a relaxation and comfort that comes with practicing "School Girl Art." On a trip to Sturbridge Village, I met an HSEAD (Historical Society of Early American Decoration) teacher, Anne Dimock, and other volunteers demonstrating reverse glass painting. I joined and became a guild member of HSEAD.org. The economy of the use of materials, and the desire even in early times, to decorate, was fascinating and charming to me. I am interested in carrying these techniques forward in my personal work. This exhibition, which is of the Central New York Chapter of HSEAD's work will be held this August 2022 at the Fenimore Museum of Art.

18th Annual Student & Faculty Exhibition: Art The Univversal Language

Orange Hall Gallery, SUNY Orange, Middletown, NY

Forever Young, Islip Art Museum

West Islip, NY 2021

Art at 50Plus, Islip Art Museum

West Islip, NY 2020

Minute 2:51: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4nWVoPdh5Y&t=191s

Changing Tide, Cape Cod Museum of Art

December 2020, Dennis, MA

Changing Tide is as predictable as the swing of a pendulum. It can represent a cleansing exchange of life-giving seawater, or fuel a destructive surge onto land. The theme is a starting point that encompasses both representational and more conceptual artwork. Cycles can be found everywhere, and Changing Tide encourages CCMoA Artist Members to consider the many possible ways the theme can be expressed through their art in this time of extreme environmental, social and political fluctuation. In November, members of the Cape Cod Museum of Art were invited to submit original artwork to our Annual Juried Members Exhibition. 114 artists from across the region submitted 225 works, and only 73 of those works were selected by juror Amanda Wastrom, Assistant Curator at Heritage Museums & Gardens, East Sandwich, Massachusetts.

https://youtu.be/IygM2CWmeG8

On Light: Reflections from the Darkroom ~ Photograms and Prints

March 12 - May 22, 2020, Newburgh, NY

To view the exhibition on youtube please follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL1lxe_3rLs

Presented by SUNY Orange Cultural Affairs

Press Release:

To be proficient in any one of the visual arts demonstrates knowledge and talent. To be accomplished in three, shows fine-tuned expertise and creativity. Mary Cathryn Roth is such an artist. Roth received her MFA in Painting and Photography from The City College of the City University of New York. In addition, she paints intricate designs on replicas of functional household objects a centuries-old artform, American decorative arts. Two years ago, in her On Time exhibitition, Roth displayed abstract paintings and photographs in the gallery and decorative arts in the glass vitrine cases.

Presently in the glass vitrine cases in the Foyer of the Mindy Ross Gallery, Roth’s exhibit On Light: Reflections from the Darkroom ~ Photograms and Prints is “captive” because SUNY Orange’s Kaplan Hall on the Newburgh campus is closed. Originally slated to be open for viewing March 12 through May 22, 2020, a virtual tour has been created to bring the exhibit to you via YouTube.

Even though the video tour moves more quickly than in-person through the exhibit, the detailed narrative recorded by the artist herself provides perspective and information in an intimate manner which offers a deeper understanding of the photograms, prints and negative drawings as well as the equipment. On Light is the second in Roth’s series of exhibitions exploring the artist’s essential question and themes of time, light, space, absence, presence and the body in motion. Roth states that it “is a celebration of the darkroom – its mysteries, tools, techniques, and pleasures.” In addition to her early and recent photograms, negative drawings are included all as unique works of art. Also, several cameras, film, negatives, example contact sheets, paper easels, brushes for cyanotype and platinum, negative holders, reels and tanks for processing are on display.

On Light is a captivating presentation of the artistry and process of pre-digital photography. Enter the darkroom through the video.

Included in this exhibition are examples of essential darkroom tools (from Kodak Brownie cameras that belonged to the artist’s father, Roth’s first film camera, a Nikon FE, film, negatives, example contact sheets, paper easels, brushes for cyanotype, and platinum, to negative holders,

reels and tanks for processing) as well as selections of prints, photograms and negative drawings from over 25 years of photography practice. The viewer will walk away with a deeper understanding and appreciation of what it feels like to be in a darkroom and return to a more hands-on process, quite a distance from the immediacy of our digital age.

Early and recent photograms are included in this exhibition, as Roth revisited techniques and reinterpreted her past approach last fall in the darkroom. Photograms are unique works of art, a reflection of a specific moment and intention in time. Created by placing objects on the photosensitive paper and letting light expose the shape of the object with varying translucency, no negatives are used in this process. This is often a first lesson in photography, but an art form in its own right as exemplified by the early work of Henry Fox Talbot, Man Ray and contemporary artists. The photogram is a beloved darkroom process and final work of art.

Also included are a few unique self-portraits and images from Roth’s Negative Drawing Series – in which the artist uses negatives, in the carrier, and the paper easel and enlarger light to ‘draw’ with the negative onto the photo sensitive paper. The light becomes the drawing tool. Like the photograms, each negative drawing is an unique work of art.

Presented, filmed and edited by SUNY Orange Cultural Affairs

https://sunyorange.edu/calendar/index.php?eID=2282

On Time: Paintings & Photographs by Mary Cathryn Roth

January 3 - March 9, 2018

On Time is the first in a series of exhibitions exploring the artist’s essential question and themes of: time, light, space, absence, presence and the body in motion. Roth is interested in how humankind structures and patterns our lives primally and specifically to our time. The idea of the essential question is a key concept of Roth’s painting mentor Al Loving, who she studied with at The City College of New York for her MFA in painting and photography.

The works from the Surface Series: Trinidad Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, New York City, Newburgh and San Juan in On Time reflect on the weathering of historic structures and regular buildings alike. For this exhibition, three early paintings were selected to accompany twenty-seven photographs from the Surface Series, including The Rape of the Sabines I, 1995, Untitled (Earth), 1995 and The Deep, 1989.

The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Trinidad, Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, was built on the back of the 19th-century sugar and slave trade. At its zenith, in 1827, one of the 56 sugar mills in the region harvested the biggest cane haul in the world — just under a million kilos of white pressed crystals. This enormous, conspicuous wealth shaped the town and no expense was spared in fashioning the finest Spanish colonial mansions, plazas and churches, which still stand testament to this era. Eighteen time-worn, weathered abstract fragments of surfaces of these buildings from Trinidad photographed in 2000 are included in this exhibition arranged in two grids of nine. Paired with these grids is the painting The Rape of the Sabines I, 1995, 120” x 66” inspired by Giambologna’s sculpture c. 1579 in Loggia dei Lanzi, Signoria Square, Florence.

The Deep, 1989, acrylic on canvas, 88” x 66” an homage to Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, is paired with two digital photographs, Giclée prints from the Appropriation Series 2017 in which the artist creates abstract digital imagery inspired from her early paintings. These works are a reflection on time and distance, from one’s own work, the rapid change in technology and process of documenting these works, and Richard Serra’s statement that “It takes a lifetime to become an artist.”

Untitled (Earth), 1995 acrylic on canvas, 80” x 67” is paired with two diptychs of the surfaces of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Castillo San Felipe del Morro in San Juan. The Surface Series imagery is a reflection on the effects of nature on man-made structures over time, the idea of history repeating itself, and the knowledge that our egos and errors will be erased – that over time nature prevails.

On Time is on view at the Mindy Ross Gallery, SUNY Orange Newburgh, 1^st Floor, Kaplan Hall, corner of Grand and First Streets from January 3 – March 9, 2018 with an opening reception on Newburgh Last Saturday, January 27, 2018 3-5:30 PM, Newburgh, NY and is sponsored by SUNY Orange Cultural Affairs (845) 341-4891. cultural@sunyorange.edu. www.sunyorange.edu/culturalaffairs. Free secure parking is available in the underground parking garage accessible at 73 First St. Regular gallery hours are 8am to 9pm Monday through Thursday and to 6pm on Fridays.

http://www.recordonline.com/entertainmentlife/20180104/exhibits-amp-galleries

Walking Series I, II & III

Walking Series I: Seasons Change

Walking Series I: Seasons Change is an exploration of nature's changing seasons over the course of a twelve-month period during which the artist walked the same four-and-a-half-mile walk. All images were taken and edited with an iPhone SE. The exhibition will be available online on August 1, 2022.

Walking Series II: The Cape Cod National Seashore

Walking Series II: The Cape Cod National Seashore is an exploration of the changing beauty of the seashore. My first trip to the Cape Cod National Seashore was on a yellow school bus in 1980 from Fort Wayne, Indiana (USA). I was in 5th grade. My love affair with the Cape began then and has grown ever since. In 2013, I started an annual tradition with my children staying at Nauset Beach. Over the years I have traveled the entire Cape, with a special affinity to Nauset, Provincetown, Marconi, and Wellfleet. The portfolio will be available online on August 1, 2022, and like the seashore, will change.

Walking Series III: Wherever You Roam

Walking Series III: Wherever You Roam is an exploration of landscape and the history of walking, inspired by Rebecca Solnit's Wanderlust: A History of Walking and A Field Guide to Getting Lost. This series is ongoing and will occasionally be updated. First availability, August 1, 2022.