Hudson River Museum Presents Two New Exhibitions This Fall: No Bodies: Clothing as Disruptor and Clay Conversations: Ceramics from the Gilded to the Digital Age

YONKERS, NY, September 4—This fall, the Hudson River Museum unveils two exhibitions that invite visitors to experience everyday items in bold new ways. No Bodies: Clothing as Disruptor, on view September 20, 2024–January 26, 2025, uses clothing to challenge our perception of materiality, cultural identity, relationships, political beliefs, and portraiture itself, featuring work by more than thirty contemporary artists. Clay Conversations: Ceramics from the Gilded to the Digital Age, on view October 11, 2024– March 9, 2025, juxtaposes selections from the HRM’s historical Chinese porcelain collection with the work of six contemporary New York–based ceramic artists.

“The Hudson River Museum is showcasing innovative exhibitions that highlight intriguing and surprising artworks that play with form and function, explore cultural identity, and untap personal and political expression,” states Director and CEO Masha Turchinsky. “We’re proud to present our visitors with talented artists who reimagine everyday objects, whether it’s the clothing we wear or the vessels we use, and examine how these items reflect—and even challenge—societal roles and historical context.”

No Bodies: Clothing as Disruptor
September 20, 2024–January 26, 2025
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Simply put, clothing is what we put on our bodies. We use it both to cover up and to reveal ourselves. It is also a tool we use to understand others. As an artistic medium, it embodies the tension between opposing forces—private experience and mass consumption, form and function, empowerment and vulnerability, personal expression and cultural expectation. Through bodiless works that both reimagine and transform clothing, No Bodies: Clothing as Disruptor offers a multitude of social portraits while inviting visitors to engage with the intimate narratives they evoke.

No Bodies brings together works by more than thirty contemporary artists who use clothing to play with assumptions about materiality and cultural identity, and as a vehicle for social and political activism. For example, artist Rachel Breen asks us to stand in solidarity with garment workers with her installation of a sea of suspended shirts, while Rose Deler points up the cruelty of immigration policy with children’s garments fashioned from the Mylar rescue blankets given to migrants at the U.S. border. Chris Burden’s outsized police uniform captures the seemingly insurmountable wall of power confronting Black communities, and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith uses the painted form of a dress as a meaningful and relatable cultural reference to draw attention to Indigenous traditions. Barbara Ségal, who lives and works in Yonkers, creates sculptures of dresses that are poignant tributes to childhood and bittersweet reminders of loss, immortalized in the enduring beauty of marble.

Independent curator Alva Greenberg, curator of No Bodies, states, “While there is a specificity to the subjects these artists are addressing, there are overarching universalities to them as well. Underlying many of the works is a commentary of the female narrative, environmental concerns, and a textural approach to the making of art.”

No Bodies reveals how clothing can convey deeply personal stories while critiquing broader systems of production and regulation. Disrupting familiar clothing conventions, the artists in No Bodies illustrate how personal expression can reshape cultural and social norms. Their works unravel our presumptions about clothing, the stories it can carry, and the psychological weight it can bear. No Bodies asks us to reconsider clothing as not merely attire, or fashion, but a dynamic expression of both personal and collective identities.

Featured Artists:
Reginald Dwayne Betts • John Boone • Marsha Borden • Rachel Breen • Chris Burden • Patrick Carroll • Susan Clinard • Hannah Conradt • E.V. Day • Rose Deler • Lesley Dill • Anindita Dutta • Giannina Dwin • Carlos Estévez • Kathryn Frund • Jonathan Herrera Soto • Jesse Krimes • Robert Kushner • Ruth Lingen • Erica Lord • Whitfield Lovell • Adriana Marmorek • Senga Nengudi • Carol Paik • Sidney Russell • Barbara Ségal • Karen Shaw • Jaune Quick-to-See Smith • Micki Watanabe Spiller • Cindy Tower • Cybèle Young

Curated by independent curator and collector Alva Greenberg.

At the Hudson River Museum, the exhibition is generously sponsored by The Coby Foundation, Ltd.

Additional support is provided by The O’Grady Foundation.

Exhibitions are made possible by assistance provided by the County of Westchester.

 

Clay Conversations: Ceramics from the Gilded to the Digital Age
October 11, 2024–March 9, 2025
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From antique porcelain vases to contemporary dishware generated by AI technology, Clay Conversations illuminates the power of ceramics to serve as vessels for personal and political expression. It juxtaposes selections from the HRM’s Chinese porcelain collection with the work of six New York–based artists: Adam Chau, Patricia Encarnacion, Evelyn Mtika, Karen Jaimes, Yage Wang, and Yonkers-based artist Rachel Sydlowski, who will create a large-scale mixed-media installation commissioned especially for this exhibition that evokes the beauty and excess of the Gilded Age and examines the potential for apparently everyday ceramic forms to generate narratives of personal and global significance.

The exhibition spotlights how these contemporary ceramicists reference and critique the medium’s longstanding ties to themes of exclusivity and exoticism, and how they utilize archival research, digital technologies, and literary allusions to craft vessels that express the histories and experiences of communities often relegated to the margins of the art world.

Perched atop bookshelves and tabletops, an assortment of porcelain vessels adorns the period rooms in the Museum’s 1877 Gilded Age home, Glenview. These seemingly quotidian ceramic forms—such as vases, jars, and plates—reflect a booming global marketplace. During the late nineteenth century, wealthy Americans went to great lengths to acquire antique Chinese ceramics, especially blue and white porcelain from the Kangxi period of the Qing dynasty (1662–1772). Created for both domestic and export markets, Kangxi porcelain was remarkably durable and technically innovative, often featuring elaborately rendered vignettes from Chinese folklore and literature. For Gilded Age collectors, possessing such precious vessels signaled their elite status and cosmopolitan worldview.

“It’s been a thrill to place Glenview’s exquisite Chinese porcelain collection in conversation with the innovative work of contemporary ceramicists,” states Karintha Lowe, HRM’s Mellon Public Humanities Fellow. “Gathered together, these works provide an opportunity for viewers to appreciate how artists have long used clay to tell stories, showcase experimental techniques, and create visually stunning works of art.”

Clay Conversations is curated by Karintha Lowe, HRM’s Mellon Public Humanities Fellow.

Exhibitions are made possible by assistance provided by the County of Westchester.

This exhibition is made possible by Sarah Lawrence College through a generous grant from the Mellon Foundation, and by support from the Nancy Lin and George Farmer Family.

 

Teaching Artist-in-Residence

This fall, the HRM Teaching Artist-in-Residence will be Nancy Mendez, a visual artist who resides in Yonkers and has contributed her talents to two murals at the HRM for Women to the Fore and Hip Hop Heroes. Drawing inspiration from her Ecuadorian and Puerto Rican heritage, along with her profound love for music, nature, and mysticism, her artwork consistently embodies a deep current of Eros, mirroring the passion that fuels her life. She received a BFA in Illustration and Fine Arts from the Fashion Institute of Technology and MA in Art Education from Lehman College.

Mendez will create and lead participatory experiences for the general public—including teens, adults, and seniors—on the power and significance of colors and patterns in clothing, which extend beyond simply being worn on the body. Inspired by No Bodies: Clothing as Disruptor, she will explore why individuals are naturally drawn to specific colors and patterns in their clothing. Mendez, who has exhibited widely in Westchester, the Bronx and New York City, is completely bilingual, which will support the Museum’s goal to offer the fullest possible access for our Spanish-speaking visitors in our galleries, workshops, and classrooms.

 

Related Programs

Family Art Workshop: The Power of Color
Saturdays & Sundays in October, 12–4pm
What color are you drawn to? Do you feel a particular emotion or think of a particular memory when you see it? Explore the impact of color and design a pattern using paint markers. Designed by Teaching Artist-in-Residence Nancy Mendez. Recommended for ages 5+.

Saturday Sketch: Fashion Design with Briana Bright
Saturday, October 5, November 2, December 7, & January 4, 11am–12:30pm
Curious about fashion? Join Briana Bright, fashion art director, designer, artist, youth mentor, and founder of Bright Vzn, for a series of four 90-minute sketching classes that will cover key areas of fashion design and marketing. Attend the entire series, offered once a month from October–January, or join select sessions. Inspired by No Bodies: Clothing as Disruptor. Teens and adults of all skill levels are welcome. Coffee will be served.

Tour of No Bodies: Clothing as Disruptor
Sunday, October 6, 2pm
No Bodies: Clothing as Disruptor unravels our presumptions of what clothing is, what stories it can carry, and the psychological weight it can hold. Through storytelling, this interactive tour led by Teaching Artist-in-Residence Nancy Mendez will connect visitors to selected works of art, delving into the messages they contain and how their creators have chosen to convey them.

Ekphrastic Fashion: Spoken Word Performance and Workshop
Saturday, October 19, 2–4pm
Ekphrastic poetry describes a work of art in vivid detail, and explores how the viewer has been impacted by their experience with the work. Join us for an interactive spoken word and “fashion wRap” performance and workshop featuring local spoken-word poets, musicians, and MC’s Marcus C. John, Kaira Hassel, Naa Akua, and Jonathan “Duv” Zaragoza. Surrounded by works of art in the gallery, they will perform in front of their chosen inspirations, and work with audiences to create and perform original responses to artworks.

Family Art Workshop: Colorful Patterns
Saturdays & Sundays in November, 12–4pm
Choose a fabric swatch with a pattern that resonates with you, then enhance it by incorporating beads and paint. As you decorate your swatch, think about why you were drawn to its particular pattern and what stood out to you. Designed by Teaching Artist-in-Residence Nancy Mendez. Recommended for ages 5+.

Family Art Workshop: Clay Pendants
Saturdays & Sundays in November, 12–4pm
Using natural materials and air dry clay, make your own wearable pendants in this workshop inspired by Clay Conversations: Ceramics from the Gilded to the Digital Age. Recommended for ages 4+.

Cardboard Cutout Clothing Collage
Saturday, November 9, 1:30–3:30pm
In this hands-on workshop, choose a cardboard clothing cutout that represents a t-shirt, pants, or a dress pattern, then decorate it with paint, and clothing pattern swatches. The final designs will be mounted onto a plywood base, creating a collaborative composition that celebrates diversity and inclusivity across different cultures. Led by Teaching Artist-in-Residence Nancy Mendez.

Curator Tour of No Bodies: Clothing as Disruptor
Sunday, November 10, 2pm
Join Alva Greenberg, curator of the exhibition, and HRM Assistant Curator Shilpi Chandra for an interactive tour of No Bodies: Clothing as Disruptor. They will delve into ​​how the altered and uninhabited clothing on view disrupts our automatic responses by challenging perceptions of materiality, cultural identity, relationships, political beliefs, and portraiture itself.

Artist Talk and Workshop: Belongings as Witnesses
Saturday, November 16, 12–2pm
Anindita Dutta, whose work is on view in No Bodies: Clothing as Disruptor, leads an artist talk and interactive workshop that provides insight into her creative practice and invites you to explore the deep connections between personal memories and the everyday objects in your life. To participate fully, you are encouraged to bring an object that holds personal significance, or is tied to a memory, to practice your storytelling skills. Following the talk and workshop, Dutta will present a performance, Circumambulation (Pradakshina), in the galleries at 3pm. Her dynamic exploration of movement, ritual, and social commentary aims to ignite contemplation and dialogue on sex, sexuality, and societal issues.

The Future of Fashion with Designer Lilach Porges
Saturday, November 23, 2pm
Designer Lilach Porges will discuss her practice, her vision of the future of fashion, and share her journey from architecture to pioneering robot-print fashion in her innovative brand PROCODE_DRESS. Inspired by software engineering, her collections explore the aesthetics of the abilities and limitations of technology. Simultaneous ASL interpretation will be provided.

Image: Lesley Dill (American, b. 1950), Gown of Blueprint, 2014. Hand-painted metal with oil paint on metal armature. Courtesy of Nohra Haime Gallery.

 

Press contacts:

Jeana Wunderlich
jwunderlich@hrm.org
(914) 963-4550 x240

Samantha Hoover
shoover@hrm.org
(914) 963-4550 x216