Thursday, September 7, 2023

LINDA MARY MONTANO ONE MONTH OF ART LIFE IN SAUGERTIES NY :OCT 14-NOV 19 2023

 LINDA MARY MONTANO    ONE MONTH OF ART LIFE IN SAUGERTIES NY :OCT 14-NOV 19 2023



      LINDA MARY MONTANO  AT LAMB  CENTER/ EMERGE/ORPHEUM: THOUGHTS
ORIGIN: After seeing the Havey Fite show at the Lamb Center and emerge last year, remembering that I studied stone carving with Harvey Fites teacher, was it Pennington?, I felt encouraged when Shout Out: Suzanne Bennett & Christa Mattia and  Emerge: Robert Langdon asked me last year to consider a show with them. Having performed my funeral and partial Resurrection at the Dorsky some years ago, I was both honored yet foot dragging to be considered to be a once Saugerties  hidden and retired artist......now coming out of hiding.
INFLUENCES;  Both parents MILDRED&HENRY MONTANO for musical &artistic joy; my maternal grandmother MAGDALENA KELLY my first teacher .. an outsider artist; my paternal grandparents MARY&LOUIS MONTANO who spoke no english and influenced my work with personas; my family considered to be new immigrants in Saugerties which created a social isolation and hiddenness in me which made me a practitioner of not life but of art. I speak NOT LIFE, but ART which is an easy language for me ;Montano's shoe store influenced me in discipline and mentored me in the art of healing, the art of helping people; Catholic Church introduced  incense, ritual, soul study, discipline and I wanted to be a priest and being an artist was the next best way to share my version of ECSTASY!! My time in a Convent was a training in performative uniformity and endurance. There I was not speaking for 2 years : practicing the vow of silence. I “ lived“ many years with a Hindu Teacher SHRI BRAVANANDA SARASWATI who introduced me to the Chakras. Gratitude to MITCHELL PAYNE for giving me  unconditional love, gratitude to PAULINE OLIVEROS for mentoring how to listen, gratitude to DR ARUNA MEHTA for loving care. And gratitude to many others for EVERYTHING.
EDUCATION: parents never critiqued, allowed always to create and given money and time to do so. Nun at College opened the door to sculpture lab and i SELF HEALED from an eating disorder.  My art as therapy always there right from the beginning. For MA  sent sculptures home from Italy and they now are going to Museums in memory of MITCHELL PAYNE. My show for MFA  live chickens in gallery and beginning of endurance performances as CHICKEN WOMAN, a chance to endure stillness publically, as art. 
NEW TAKE ON CATHOLICISM:  MATTHEW FOX'S RECEIPE : PATH OF AWE is VIA POSITIVA, PATH OF RELEASE is VIA PURGATIVA, PATH OF CREATIVITY is VIA CREATIVA, PATH OF TRANSFORMATION is VIA TRANSFORMATIVA, a once Catholic priest who resaw the Catholic Mass by inviting all to participate in the ritual as in a Sacred happening. My art is often a response to Catholic rituals and i admire Matthew Fox's bravery in his reseeing the ancient and untouched Catholic rituals even though he was later excommunicated for doing so.
ART WORLD: I am an artist but view myself as an outsider who is not interested in the language or discussion that identifying as an  “artist” entails in order to be part of the tribe.
LANGUAGE OF ART: I was a selective mute as a child and internalized thoughts, words, feelings, ideas and traumas.  Art became and is still my most fluent language.  I speak as art not as a life-language person.
THE OCT 14-NOV19 COLLABORATIVE  SHOW IN SAUGERTIES.
EMERGE: I will collaborate with 14 artists at EMERGE on the theme of the 14 STATIONS OF THE CROSS. I will make a Crucifix for the show and the wall will be an interactive "healing/prayer/miracle" interaction. There will be other life interactions including chairs in front of each Station so people can interact via sitting.   
The collaborating artists will use 14 of my once used museum quality frames ( long story) to interpret their response to the 14 Stations. One of my stone carved sculpture heads will be lying in EMERGE'S front window and I will reference the 7 CHAKRAS at that site. For 14 years,1984-1998, I performed a multi leveled experiment based on the Chakras. 
  14 STATIONS OF THE CROSS: SHOUT OUT AND EMERGE: CURATOR  ROBER LANGDON
                                   Linda Mary Montano
AN INVITATION FOR YOUR PERSONAL AND UNIQUE JOURNEY THROUGH ONE OF THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS. OPENING AT EMERGE GALLERY 3 PM OCTOBER 14, SATURDAY.                                                        CONSIDERATIONS                                       Your art does not need to be confined behind glass. If it reaches over the boundaries of the frame it can extend 7 inches. Please indicate the number of the Station you are referencing on the back. Frames can be picked up at Emerge. The participation fee for the show is $20.                                                STATEMENT.      
Having grown up Roman Catholic in Saugerties, 81 years ago, attending St Mary's grammar school for 8 years, joining , a convent for 2 years to attempt to  become a Maryknoll Sister, attending a Catholic college for 4 years and receiving my MA from a Catholic University in Italy, it is not surprising that many times my art reflects my spiritual training and hunger!!! That is,  I am steeped in Roman Catholic theologies which sustain my need for Cosmic Order! And now, post Covid, pre Armagedón, current climate failures and unspeakable world issues invite me to fall back into a need for "Order" on a daily basis!!!
The 14 STATIONS OF THE CROSS were and are still a structure and way for me to travel through my questions about death, grief, connection and compassion. Post Pandemic, these themes still visit me and I've proposed to Suzanne, Robert and Christa that the Emerge Gallery become a "healing chapel" via YOUR PERSONAL reinterpretations of the 14 Stations. Each of the frames with your art, will be placed on both side walls, 7 on one side, 7 on the other. I will provide a Crucifix for the far wall. Of course, the "prompts" that I have included here are merely "thematic suggestions" that I am proposing and I know that your practice will invite your unique response.
CONSIDERATIONS:
* To show your art, you will be receiving a recycled empty museum quality frame: 11 ½ inches wide, 15 ¼ inches high, 1 inch deep in July.
*In this email, I am listing the 14 Stations and "prompts" that you might find interesting to consider for your "station".                                  Installation fee is $20. 
*We will have a Zoom group meeting in July to discuss details, and of course you can be in touch with me to discuss any of your concerns anytime. lindamontano@hotmail.com     845-399-2502
THE 14 STATIONS OF THE CROSS AND SUGGESTED PROMPTS:
1ST STATION: JESUS IS CONDEMMED TO DEATH
PROMPTS: bullying, incorrect diagnoses, early trauma, etc
2ND STATION: JESUS CARRIES HIS CROSS
PROMPTS: overwork, pay discrepancies, irreconcilable differences etc
3RD STATION: JESUS FALLS THE FIRST TIME
PROMPTS: Divide your life into 3 timeframes. For this first-time frame, is there an event that created a fall? a disaster? a memorable issue? etc
4TH STATION: JESUS MEETS HIS MOTHER
PROMPT: mother, anima, feminism, gender etc
5TH STATION: SIMEON OF CYRENE HELPS JESUS CARRY HIS CROSS
PROMPT: physical, emotional, psychological, financial assistance.   birth&death doulas etc
6TH STATION: VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS
PROMPT: medical, professional, emotional positive connection..  the aging body etc
7TH STATION: JESUS FALLS THE SECOND TIME
PROMPTS: second 1/3rd of life.   events, memories etc
8TH STATION: JESUS MEETS THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEUM
PROMPTS: birth doula, death doula, feminism, body etc
9TH STATION: JESUS FALLS THE THIRD TIME
PROMPTS: in this 1/3rd of life, a memorable event etc
10TH STATION: JESUS IS TRIPPED OF HIS GARMENTS
PROMPTS: body dysmorphia, anorexia, food issues, influencers, positive self-care etc
11TH STATION: JESUS IS NAILED TO THE CROSS
PROMPTS: negative self talk, unacceptable job&working conditions, gossip, rumors etc
12TH STATION: JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS
PROMPTS: repressed grief, recent death of friend, body lodged trauma, losing hair etc
13TH STATION: JESUS BODY TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS
PROMPTS: nurturing friendships, therapy, swimming etc
14th STATION: JESUS IS LAID IN THE TOMB
PROMPTS: gardening as a positive response to Now,  new burial possibilities.etc
14 ARTIST-COLLABORATORS AT EMERGE: CARRIE DASHOW/JOAN FFOLLIOTT/JOSEPHA GUTELIUS/ LYNN HERRING/NINA ISABELLE/ VERONICA LAWLOR/MOLLY MACKAMAN/ ELIN MENZIES/DENISE ORZO/TRACY PHILLIPS/ REBECCA RAY/ BONNIE SMITH/ANGELA GAFFNEY SMITH/JENNIFER ZACKIN
GRATITUDE TO SUZANNE , CHRISTA, ROBERT: Curating a show is a gargantuan undertaking...gathering artists, time records, publicity, installing the show, pr for media, keeping show open for a month, selling the art, record keeping, interfacing with the public.  I come away from the is experience with a great APPLAUSE for all of them.
THE LAMB CENTER: Artists who have been influenced by my art-life will be chosen to show at the LAMB CENTER. This was an open call and the 3 curators chose the artists who are:
ORPHEUM: ; The curators have chosen WHAT COULD GO WRONG and ANXIETY IS MY FRIEND .Backstory: for over 24 years i have collaborated with Master Video Artist  TOBE CAREY who has edited and co-created over 60 videos with me. I bring him footage, ideas and sound which I have pre-recorded with JIM BARBARO, sound engineer. Tobe and I then craft my autobiographical life puzzles into art and he does all of this while producing HIS OWN incredible documentaries that are PBS worthy. Both Jim and Tobe are the REASONS i can create videos and I am humbly grateful to them.I could do nothing without them.   WHAT COULD GO WRONG is an interactive OPERA with the ORPHEUM audience who will collaborate throughout this very intense and raw video which talks about the agony of now and the joy of the romance of THEN/THE PAST via my singing the romantic 7 Standards. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, appears 7 times and brings sweet words of comfort . There will be about 7 "conductors\ volunteers” with provided written  signs which will encourage the audience to sing, shout and sonically react during the video because it is so difficult to watch this film without having sonic access to improvisational release.
.For example they might sing ahhhhh,ommmmmm, maaaa, oyyyyy, etc and this opportunity to interact allows for 7 audience mood adjustments:, for example, by interacting they might:
  1. TRANSFORM THE UNSPEAKABLENESS OF NOW
  2. ALCHEMIZE THE UNSPEAKABLE PAINS OF MOTHER EARTH
  3. COLLECTIVELY GRIEVE CHAOS
  4. GROUP PERFORM ALTERNATIVE ANTIDOTES
  5. SONICALLY RELEASE THE GRIEF OF CURRENT CHAOS
  6. FEARLESSLY FACE CATASTROPHIC GLOBAL WARMING
  7. PRACTICE ART AS THERAPY; ART AS TRAUMA CATCHER
  8. HOMEOPATICALLY TREAT THE OVERWHELM WITH PERSONAL SONIC OVERWHELM
  9. REFUSE TO BE STIFLED BY TERROR; ART AS GRIEF RELEASER
  10. AESTHETICALLY ADJUST OUR CHAKRAS
EVENTS
OCTOBER 14, Saturday 3-5pm OPENINGS AT LAMB AND EMERGE.MONTANO ,dressed as MOTHER TERESA,  has patches placed  on her eyes by the curators. These will be on her eyes for one week. She will be the guest of Jennifer Zackin and live in Jennifer's studio. While they are together, Jennifer will create a rope sculpture also blindfolded for an undisclosed number of hours a day while Montano is there, blindfolded and in residence. At the LAMB CENTER opening, the performers will be: LAMA LIN LERNER, who prays a Tibetan Invocation; JULIA HAINES will play accordion ILL FLY AWAY and FRE AT LAST with her Rosendale DRUM GROUP will lead ALL to the other opening at EMERGE, processing through the streets of Saugerties.
OCTOBER 21, Saturday, 3-4. Montano’s  EYE PATCHES REMOVED BY CURATORS;  LAMB CENTER. JENNIFER ZACHIN'S rope sculpture placed in a tree and curators remove eye patches. PERFORMERS SHARON PENZ & CELESTE GRAVES will lead all in a group Chicken Dance.
OCTOBER 22, SUNDAY 3-4 ARTISTS DISCUSSION AT  EMERGE for Stations Collaborators.
  
 OCTOBER  28, SATURDAY 3-5  Artists discussion at the LAMB CENTER.                                
 NOVEMBER 8, WEDNESDAY. 5-7 pm ORPHEUM. VIDEO INTERACTION . After videos, SUNY Art History Professor BETH WILSON interviews Montano. 
NOVEMBER 19, 3-5  CLOSING .  PERFORMERS:  MONTANO as BOB DYLAN & PAUL MCMAHON  SING TO THE MOTHER INTERACTIVELY. ADRIANA MAGANA will offer a healing of grief ritual, NINA ISABELLE&BRIAN McCORKLE will lead a CHICKEN DANCE
THEMES:  
  1. I PRACTICE THE ART OF AGING, ASKING FOR COLLABORATIVE HELP
  2. TRAUMA CLEARING VIA PUBLIC DISCLOSURE:ARTISTS DISCLOSE THEIR PERSONAL ISSUES VIA STATIONS OF THE CROSS. EVERYDAY ISSUES AS FOOD FOR CREATION. 
  3. I PRACTIE ENDURANCE VIA EYE PATCHES FOR A WEEK
  4. ENDURANCE IS DEMONSTRATED VIA MONTHS OF CURATORS PLANNING AND ARTISTS CREATING
  5. GENEROSITY OF THE ARTISTS: THEY DONATE THEIR TIME, ART, PERFORMANCES: THE ART OF DONATION
  6. ART AS HEALING VIA HONORING THE SEVEN CHAKRAS AND PERSONAL EXPOSURE OF AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 
  7. LIFE AS ART DEMONSTRATED VIA EYE PATCHES:LIVING FOR A WEEK DOING NOTHING IS SEEN AS ART. PRAYER AS ART IN THE “ 14 STATIONS TEMPLE” AT EMERGE. 
  8. PERSONA MORPHING: MONTANO AS BOB DYLAN AND MOTHER TERESA. ARTISTS CAN DO ANYTHING AND CALL IT ART. 
  1. FEELING VERY HONORED THAT OTHERS ARE INFLUENCED BY MY ART OF SELF HEALING!!!!!!
MAY ALL BEINGS CELEBRATE THE ART OF LIFE AND MAY THIS OPEN US TO THE ART OF LOVE
LINDA MARY MONTANO
    
 

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