Art House Hudson Exhibiting “Actual Art” Icon Tery Fugate-Wilcox

In a recent Luxe Beat Magazine exclusive interview, I talked with Art House Hudson gallery owner and founder, Christene Selleck. She shared with me her vision for the gallery and how she met the iconic Tery Fugate-Wilcox. His exhibit “It’s Time” is on display now, through September 4, 2017 and features a collection commissioned by the late Steve Jobs, “The Steves,” along with other Actual Art collections including: “Don’t Leaf Me Alone” and “Slow Burn.”

Tery is a National Endowment for the Arts laureate with creations found in collections at the Smithsonian Institution, the National Gallery of Australia, NYC Parks and museums such as the Museum of Modern Art and The Guggenheim.

Time and decay, mortal enemies of most artists, are Tery Fugate-Wilcox’s partners in creation. Reflecting Tery’s  natural-process, post-minimalist (Actual Art) philosophy, his pieces are literally abstract works in progress, employing weathering, rainfall evidence, oxidation or other impacts of nature to interact with and affect the artistic outcome.

Art House Hudson gallery owner Christene Selleck says, “Tery and I had been working within blocks of each other for close to 20 to 30 years without crossing paths or meeting. For years I often looked at the work he created that was all around Soho and often wondered: ‘What is that and why is it there?’ Who knew that years later we would be working on various shows, creating large banks of work and multi-media projects together?”

Tery’s approach to the “It’s Time” exhibition is embodied in this statement: “Nascent Art examines the point at which an object becomes a work of art. Actual Artists do not finish works of art; they only start them. Then the works leave the artists’ hands and go out into the world to be ‘finished’ by weather, dust, oxidation, temperature, humidity, human and/or animal interaction or simply time, as the inner structure of the materials change or interact with each other. At some point, during that evolution, the materials become a work of art…on their own…without the artist’s intervention.”

Sherrie Wilkolaski: What inspired you to open Art House Hudson?

Christene Selleck: For the last 20 years I have managed the Art on The Street (AOTS) program, operating from remote pop-up locations. These exhibitions have ranged from city wide art tours to music festivals with 300,000 attendees. I always knew the AOTS would have a permanent home and was just waiting for the right time and location.

AOTS has had a history of non-traditional exhibition spaces, which is partly why the Art House was so appealing. The structure was in a different location as a rustic retail store. I had several helpers pick up the building and roll it to its new location. From there,we began the renovations turning it into a traditional art gallery.

SW: How did you become involved with public art installations?

CS: I fell into it as a sidebar of being a Visual Director. I designed and installed large scale trade-show booths, and from there I was hired by the Javits Center to create and install the large scale multi-vendor exhibits for the many different trade shows. The large-scale art exhibitions were an easy and obvious next step.

SW: How did you meet Tery?

CS: Tery and I met at The Hudson Warehouse. I like to say he was the resident artist. We quickly fell into a working relationship. I was inspired by his quick wit, and we found that we worked very well together.

SW: What about Tery’s work speaks to you?

CS: The sense of wit behind his work is what I find most appealing. Tery is the real deal. He is cut from the original cloth of what it meant it to be an artist in the ’60s and ’70s and how the ideals changed everything and allowed the next generation to create.

SW: What type of art is Art House Hudson interested in showcasing?

CS: Art House will be presenting various ranges of art ranging from traditional to abstract conceptual and interactive multi-media.

SW: What exhibits are coming to Art House Hudson?

CS: Following Tery’s show, we’ll be featuring “Flower Power,” which begins September 9, 2017.  This will be a three-dimensional (3D) installation combining anything floral with interactive projections. This will be followed by a group photography exhibit featuring iconic imagery from everyday views.

Art House Hudson will be showcasing Tery Fugate-Wilcox’s exhibition throughout the summer and the exhibit ends September 4. The gallery is located at 99 3rd Street, Hudson, NY 12533.

To learn more about Art House Hudson go to http://arthousehudson.com.