2. BRECKNOCK HALL
One Brecknock Road
Greenport, New York 11944
631.593.8200
brecknockhall.com
Peconic Landing and the East End Arts Council welcome
you to the Brecknock Hall Sculpture Garden Exhibition
Part of the mission of Brecknock Hall is to provide a center for cultural
arts for the greater community of the North Fork. With its high ceilings
and spacious light-filled rooms, the Hall is a perfect setting for imagination,
inspiration and cultural opportunities. The mission of the East End Arts
Council is to bring the arts to all. From this shared vision emerges
a perfect partnership.
This first juried outdoor sculpture exhibition adorns the landscape
surrounding Brecknock Hall with life and vitality expressed in the works
of over a dozen talented sculptors. We invite you to step into this
landscape and enjoy the view.
Supported by Suffolk County under the auspices of the Office
of Cultural Affairs, Steve Levy County Executive
3. Into the Sun
Too often overshadowed by noisier media, contemporary sculpture teems with the health of innovative hybrids and
classical variations on the high Modern tradition. This inaugural outdoor exhibition of works culled from an interna-
tional pool of submissions by a distinguished jury of artists and teachers is testimony to the enormous talent that
sculpture attracts, some of it in the studios of Long Island, others farther afield. Enjoyed in the pastoral context of
Peconic Landing’s 144-acre grounds, within the purview of the newly restored nineteenth-century splendor of
Brecknock Hall, these works bring the world’s sculptural riches to one of the loveliest locales in the New York area.
They have been expertly sited by Matko Tomicic, executive director of LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton, an
international destination for sculpture lovers.
We begin with the most arresting of visual spectacles, both in terms of size and sheer force. Avital Oz’s mighty and
at the same time lyrical work Il Castillo offers a symphonic marshalling of sculptural forces, including the power of the
steel beams (in the tradition of the monumental work of Mark di Suvero) linked with the intellectual rigor of Mondrian’s
orthogonals writ large, rising to an architectural scale that strikes its own equilibrium with the landscape .Robert
Strimban is a local talent whose studio overlooks a creek in Cutchogue. His gentle riffs on Calder and Picasso in the
contrapuntal magic of Yin and Yang –note the interplay of curve and straight edge--manage to be both painterly and
sculptural. Steve Zaluski’s Silver Jazz is an aluminum ode to the legato line in music, a virtuoso example of cutting
and welding. Kinetic work in a region as animated by breezes as the North Fork is destined to draw attention. Chris
Lewis’s Ship Out of Water, with its thirty-two foot flagpole (from an arborvitae cedar salvaged from a logging site and
rocking in balance with a 250-pound quartzite pendulum) beckons like the pennants that flap on Florentine towers
in Renaissance paintings and invokes the maritime tradition of the region. The great David Smith was a maestro of
“drawing in air,” a technique that lends itself to infinite variations, including the calligraphic allegro of Donald Saco’s
Puzzle, the inviting legerity of Molly Mason’s Clepsydra (the title, literally Greek for “water thief” refers to a type of
water clock), the openwork choreography of Dan Berhman’s work and the concentric focus of Jayne Johnes’s Open
Heart. Sometimes art with a political message is pushy. The better type pulls, and Geoff Feder’s City Pigeon Bench,
made of dredged wood from the Hudson River and from off the shore of the North Fork, is a gentle paean to eco-
consciousness that avoids the rhetorical trap.
Many works in the exhibition pay homage to Modern masters. It is hard not to recall the giant spiders of Louise
Bourgeois, who just passed away, when enjoying the science fiction-like power of Jack Howard-Potter’s Wall
Walker. The long and irresistible legacy of the Surrealists, particularly the Personnages of Joan Miro, can be felt in
the extraordinary biomorphic wooden forms of Zoran Luka, who lives and works in Denmark and is the furthest-
flung of the artists in the exhibition.
A word or two regarding the process of selection is in order, not just as a backstage tidbit for the curious but
because the exhibition reflects a level of choices beyond those made by individual artists who made each piece.
The jury included two distinguished sculptors, Peter Reginato and Marianne Weil, as well as Richard Mizdal, a
painter and professor of photography. Reginato’s vibrant, powerful welded work is internationally renowned, and his
star turn at the 1973 Whitney Biennial led to Storm King Art Center’s acquisition of an important work. Weil’s work,
solid and ancient in its resonance, could not be more different stylistically and technically, and between them they
embrace a spectrum of sculptural possibilities, ensuring a multivalent taste that helped prevent the selections from
slipping into a monoculture, while Professor Mizdal’s practiced eye was instrumental in sorting the misleading effects
of inadequate photography from the sculpture that would make its way to the grounds. The highlight of the judg-
ing process occurred one misty May morning most of which had been consumed by debate over the hundred or
so images on screen in a darkened parlor of Brecknock Hall. The panel decided to take a much-needed break and
opened the door to step outside into the landscape where the work would eventually be show. Eyes lit with enthusi-
asm as more than a dozen terrific sites were scoped out during a brief but invigorating stroll to the pond and back.
The jurors returned to their task with renewed energy and their final selections swiftly fell into place. You are invited
now to open that door to the brilliant East end sun and verdant, rolling expanses of the grounds that could not be
better suited to the display of top-tier contemporary sculpture. Bringing art out into the plein air, engaging our senses
in the peripatetic enjoyment of gesture, form, color, movement and ideas, can be like a visit to the North Fork for one
who is confined to office and apartment – refreshing, inspiring and filled with the rapturous memory of how art in the
outdoors can soar and shine.
Charles A. Riley II, PhD
Cutchogue, New York
June 2010
Charles A. Riley II is a Professor at Baruch College/City University of New York, a curator, author and arts journalist. His articles on
art and the art market have appeared in several magazines, including Art & Auction, Antique Monthly, Art & Antiques, New York,
Antiques and Fine Art and Opera News. He is author of twenty-eight books including The Jazz Age in France (Abrams), Art at
Lincoln Center (Wiley), Aristocracy and the Modern Imagination, The Saints of Modern Art, and Color Codes (all from the University
Press of New England), As curator-at-large for the Nassau County Museum of Art he has been responsible for exhibitions dedicated
to the works of Picasso as well as the Surrealists. He has curated exhibitions in New York, Berlin, Amsterdam, China and Lausanne,
Switzerland. He lives and writes in Cutchogue and Manhattan.
A celebration of contemporary sculpture at Brecknock Hall
4. Rob
Lorenson
The elements of my work exist in suspended animation. They are situated
as though to freeze a moment in time in which they exist effortlessly in
space. The work is constructed of sturdy, permanent materials that allow
this to happen but yet is in contradiction to the impermanent sense of the
composition. The forms have boldness and exactness that are inspired
by the martial arts where grace and precision are practiced until they are
effortless.”
Painted Aluminum ,78” x 80” x 65”
Syosset #12
5. Wood, 2’ x 6’
Symphony
Zoran
Luka
After attending different art schools in Europe, his wild temperament
and mind full of ideas lead Zoran to the “self-taught” way of learning.
Nowadays, he maintains this attitude, always ready to fight, always in
permanent conflict - contrary to the final result of his work: often smooth
and in calm balance. Luka has a permanent exhibition in Kirsten Kjær’s
Museum, Denmark, where since 1997 he lived and worked in the mu-
seum’s studios, mainly working with bronze-casting landart.
6. Steven
Ceraso
Steven Ceraso’s studio is located on the south shore of Long Island in
Bay Shore. He received his MFA in Sculpture from Claremont Gradu-
ate University in 1998. Ceraso explores a wide range of materials and
processes in his work. He worked as a tool and die welder and foundry
specialist in Los Angeles before returning to New York. Steven currently
teaches Advanced Sculpture at Long Island University’s C.W. Post
Campus.
Plaster, Gypsum, Foam, 5’ x 3’ x 5’
Stair Boat
7. Stone, Steel, Wood, 4’ x 6’ x 30’
Christopher
Lewis
Ship Out of Water
A move to San Francisco from New York’s Hudson Valley in 1988 provided
a chance to learn specialized stonework for historical restoration, while
he pursued his formal art studies at City College in San Francisco. Lewis
traveled to Pietra Santa, Italy to study under sculptor Andres Lemieszewski.
Back in San Francisco, he spent 12 years creating art, landscapes and
green rooftop gardens. He currently resides in New York where he does
welding, glass blowing and woodworking. Lewis designs his work with
an awareness of the beauty & value of salvaged recycled local materials.
8. T Steel, 25’ x 5’6” x 25’
Il Castillo
Avital Oz
Was born in l942 on Kibbutz Mishmar Haemek in Israel. He attended the
Avni Institute of Fine Arts in Tel Aviv. In 1967 Oz left Israel to pursue his art
studies in Mexico under the tutelage of Siquaros and later moved to the
USA to continue his education and career at The School of Visual Arts in
New York and Yale University School of Art & Architecture. He has shown
work at OK Harris in Manhattan and Art Sites in Riverhead among others
worldwide. He divides his life & effort between his own work and teaching
in the Americas, Europe and the Middle East.
9. Steel, 57” x 16” x 8”; Opposite: Aluminum, Steel, 8’ x 13’ x 2’
Bright Moment
Dan
Bergman
Lord Nightingale
Grew up in Chicago & Cleveland and attended Ohio State University.
After 30 years as a teacher, photographer and executive with the Macy
Corporation he studied at the Art Students’ League in New York. His
sculpture has since been exhibited in many solo and group shows and
he has created a number of public works. He is known for intense, con-
voluted welded pieces, wind-driven kinetic works and explorations of
mathematical concepts such as tensegrity.
10. Donald
Saco
Was born and educated in New York. He trained in virtually all media
of sculpture at the Sculpture Center in New York City during the late
1960s; studied graphics and anatomy at the Art Students League with
Robert Beverly Hale; lived in Rome, where he learned to work in wax for
direct bronze casting under the tutelage of American sculptor and friend,
Robert Cook, and where he had his first one-man show. A current list
of exhibitions includes over 50 group and 15 one-man shows here and
abroad. With time his sculpture has evolved from figurative to abstract.
He balances a career in art with one in clinical psychology, and is a
faculty member in NYU Medical Center’s Department of Psychiatry.
His home and studio are in Water Mill, New York.
Welded Steel, 47”, 84” on base
Puzzle
11. Wood, Steel, Bronze, 66” x 54” x 33”
Geoff
Feder
City Pigeon Bench
Is inspired by the constant development of the urban landscape and the
contrast of progress with the natural world. Feder juxtaposes industrial
material with the fragile subject matter of birds through the medium of
welded metals. Graffiti is also a strong element in his work; creating a
sense of turmoil, it also represents the passing of time and the imprint of
culture. He currently lives in Peekskill, New York with his wife Hillary and
daughter Lila.
12. Molly
Mason
Creates site specific works in architectural/natural settings in concrete/
ceramic tile/seating; water features; stainless steel, aluminium/bronze
sculptural elements; walkways/landscaping, achieving a sense of
“private,” intimate space within the larger environment. A Fulbright
Senior Research Fellow in Japan and winner of 45 other major awards,
Mason has had 20 solo exhibits, appeared in over 120 curated group
shows, and has sculptures in over 100 public, corporate, and private
collections in the U.S. and abroad.
Clepsydra
Opposite: Stainless Steel, Copper, 8 ½’ x 6 ½’ x 4 ½’;
Above: Hot Forged Bronze, Stainless Steel, 9 ¾’ x 26” x 30”
Vortex
13. Jack
Howard-
Potter
Motivated by his study of human anatomy and movement, Jack
Howard-Potter works with steel to create large-scale figurative
sculptures. He has permanent and long-term displays in sculpture
parks, municipalities and galleries across the country from Blaine,
Washington to Marco Island, Florida. He is continually studying the
human form, often sketching at dance rehearsals. Howard-Potter
resides in New York City with his wife, Erica and daughter, Skylar.
Galvanized & Powder-Coated
Steel, 120” x 84” x 103”
Wall Walker
14. Welded Steel, 6’ x 16”
Jayne
Johnes
Open Heart
Is a New York native whose sculpture is influenced by the organic decay
of materials and textures of nature. She prefers to work in metal and
stone. A SUNY Old Westbury graduate, Johnes also studied at The
Silvermine Guild of Artists in New Canaan Connecticut, whose founder,
her great uncle the artist/designer John Vassos, is a strong influence on
the fluid lines of her sculptures. She has shown locally and is in private
East End collections.
15. Robert
Strimban
“Every new piece is a challenge, it’s an adventure. It’s like a story, it has
a beginning, a middle and an end.” My aluminium sculptures I call light
machines, for when the sun moves across it, the whole meaning of the
sculpture changes. I believe in the yin & yang principle and that’s why
I like arrows… they give direction. I think the most important thing in
commercial work and fine art is originality. “I am always intrigued by how
nature can change forms - the movement of wind, the shadows… it’s
very inspiring for me.”
Aluminium, 7½’ x 4’ x 34”deep
Yin and Yang
16. Stoneware, Steel Base, 8’ x 22” x 22”
Stephen
Fabrico
Raven Totem
Notes, “This sculpture reflects my interest in abstract art, gardens and
the symbolism and imagery of the raven and American Indian totems.
The use of hard-edge forms with organic imagery in a stacked format
enables me to build totems in various sizes with an ever changing
assortment of designs.
These pieces are constructed with a stoneware clay body and fired to
2350 degrees F. They are suitable for year-round outdoor installations.”
17. Welded Aluminium, 8’ x 4’ x 4’
Silver Jazz
Steven
Zaluski
Born and raised on Long Island and graduated from Stony Brook
University. He studied engineering, psychology and received his
bachelors in Liberal Arts. He later went back to Stony Brook University
and continued his studies in education and sculpture. Zaluski creates
sculptures of welded bronze or aluminium and has installed them
nationally and internationally, including Hong Kong, Tokyo, England,
France, Germany, Israel, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas,
St. Croix, Grand Cayman, Australia, Canada.
18. Jurors
Richard Mizdal has been enjoying a long career in art. While currently teaching as an Associate
Professor in Photographic Imaging at Suffolk Community College, Richard’s work has been collected by
both corporate & public concerns. “Richard Mizdal’s paintings explore the structure of light and matter with
an ever evolving subtlety and sophistication revealing not only a mature grasp of the techniques of master
painting, but a vision and understanding of nature that is truly remarkable today.”
Peter Reginato is an American abstract sculptor. Reginato grew up near Oakland, California
and attended the San Francisco Art Institute. He began making abstract sculpture in 1965 and moved to
New York City in 1966 to pursue his career as a sculptor. A veteran of more than 50 solo exhibitions and
hundreds of group exhibitions, he is best known for his abstract painted welded steel sculptures. He lives
and works in SoHo, and teaches at The Art Students League of New York.
Charles A. Riley II, PhD is curator-at-large of the Nassau County Museum of Art,
professor at City University of New York, and the author of twenty-eight books including Art at Lincoln
Center (Wiley), The Jazz Age in France (Abrams) and Color Codes: Modern Theories of Color in
Philosophy, Painting and Architecture, Literature, Music and Psychology (University Press of New
England). He has curated exhibitions in New York, Amsterdam and Berlin and served as senior editor
of Art & Auction magazine.
Marianne Weil received her B.A. in sculpture from Goddard College in Vermont and M.F.A. in
Sculpture from the School of Visual Arts, NYC. She continued her sculpture training as an apprentice to
foundry artisans and stone carvers in Pietrasanta, Italy. Prior to her appointment at the City University of
New York, College of Staten Island in 2009, Professor Weil taught sculpture at the State University of New
York at Stony Brook and was Visiting Professor at Haverford College where she taught metal casting and
sculpture. At Haverford, she received several Mellon seed grants for collaborative sculpture projects with
faculty from Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore Colleges in art history, anthropology and archeology.
Honorary Committee
Matko Tomicic is Head Curator and Executive Director of the Longhouse Reserve in
East Hampton, New York. He is responsible for the gallery, arboretum, sculpture gardens and educational
programs. Longhouse brings together art and nature, aesthetics and spirit, with a strong conviction
that the arts are central to living wholly and creatively.
Robert and Tod Berks For decades Bob & Tod have been an influential team
in developing and providing access to the arts both locally and internationally. They were among t
he original founders of the East End Arts Council, in Riverhead, New York.
19. Bob Berks
American sculptor Robert Berks has devoted more than half a century to the creation of enduring images in bronze
of persons who have shaped our age. His public and private works include more than 300 hundred sculptured
heads and 14 monuments. Called Biographies in Bronze, the works comprise a three-dimensional record of human
achievement in our time: science; government & politics; art & entertainment; labor & industry; humanitarianism.
They include bronze portraits of Nobel Laureates Albert Einstein, Ernest Hemingway, Enrico Fermi, Martin Luther
King & Kofi Annan, as well as portraits of Pope Paul VI; American Presidents Lincoln, Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy,
Johnson, Nixon, and Reagan; of Robert F. Kennedy; Abba Eban; Golda Meir; Pablo Casals; Leonard Bernstein;
Bob Hope; Frank Sinatra; Johnny Carson; Arnold Schwarzenegger, and many more.
Berks monuments range from the 8-foot head of John F. Kennedy in Washington’s Kennedy Center to the 24-foot
homage to Carolus Linnaeus, father of modern botany. Other monuments include Supreme Court Justice Louis
Brandeis; American theologian and social philosopher Reinhold Niebuhr; and Mary McLeod Bethune Emancipation
Memorial in Washington’s Lincoln Park.
Dedicated in 1978, Berks’s 24-foot Einstein Centennial Monument on the grounds of Washington’s National Acade-
my of Science was followed, at the close of the century, by the 12-foot Einstein Millennial Monument commissioned
by the Israel Academy of Science and Humanities in Jerusalem.
In November of 2009, Berks monument of Fred Rogers, Tribute to Children, was dedicated on Pittsburgh’s North
Shore Riverfront, facing across the water to the city’s downtown “Golden Triangle”.
Robert Berks has always followed his own star. Now at eighty-eight, he has put away his clay and has turned
to cataloguing, documenting, and conserving more than five decades of other aspects of his life’s work. These
include paintings, drawings, photographs, engineering plans, and nearly two decades of work in diverse areas of
future planning that range from alternative energy to artificial intelligence and visual perception.
He likens this new commitment to cleaning the Augean stables.
20. We wish to acknowledge the support of the Sponsor Board of Peconic
Landing at Southold, Inc., the Board of Directors of the East End Arts
Council, and the Brecknock Hall Foundation Board.
We also wish to thank the Sculpture Show Committee Members who
dedicated their energies to the success of the Opening Gala:
Audrey Raebeck, Mildred Cowan, Harvey Feinstein, Betty Hansel, Betty
Keefer, Jean Shaw, Vivian Sheehan, Mildred Snider, Colleen Stevenson,
Evelyn Ward, Gloria Ways.
Special thanks to Bedell Cellars for their sponsorship of the Opening Gala.
Sincere appreciation to Nadira Vlaun for her artistic talents in the design
and production of this catalogue.
Thank you.
