One of the oldest debates since the beginning of time is what is art? In today’s modern world, local artist Marcy Freedman turns the oldest debate into a modern query… is it art or is it merch? What distinguishes the two? Where does the line get drawn? Or is there a line at all?
Art historian Marcy B. Freedman pondered this question which ultimately became the focus of her upcoming exhibition at the SUNY Westchester Community College Digital Arts Center in Peekskill.
The Digital World of Marcy B. Freedman: Art or Merch? An exhibition and an inquiry is currently the featured exhibition in the SUNY Westchester Peekskill Art Gallery. The satellite campus, which is celebrating their 30th anniversary in the City, is a perfect fit for Freedman’s exhibition brining art back to the place where she learned how to create a .jpg.
In the mid-nineties, Marcy B. Freedman took an Adobe Photoshop class at the Center for the Digital Arts in Peekskill. Immediately thereafter, she was able to use her newly acquired skills to produce promotional materials for exhibitions of her drawings, paintings, collages, and videos.
In 2020, during the Covid quarantine, Freedman created more than 400 digital collages, in which she merged her love of art history with her passion for surrealism, abstract art and the empowerment of women. At first, she output her digital files as inkjet prints, which were then exhibited in local art museums. Eventually, she decided that it would be fun to put some of these images onto tee shirts, mugs, blankets, sweatshirts, and more.
Marcy’s inquisitive mind turned into the query: “is it art or is it merch?” Freedman thought, if she sent a .jpg out to be printed on canvas, she could call the result a work of art. However, if she sent the same .jpg out to be printed on a mug or a tee shirt, what then? Is it Art or is it Merch?
That query turned into a full art exhibition that just opened to public display in the Art Gallery of SUNY Westchester Peekskill in downtown Peekskill.
Join Marcy B. Freedman at the opening reception of the Art or Merch art exhibition this Thursday, September 12th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. SUNY Westchester Peekskill is located at 27 North Division Street. The exhibition is on display from September 3 – November 24, 2024. The Center for the Digital Arts Gallery is open Monday through Thursday, 10:00 a.m – 8:00 p.m. and Friday and Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Marcy B. Freedman is an artist and an art historian with a Bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley, a Master’s degree from the University of Michigan in Italian Renaissance Art, and a Master’s degree from Princeton University in Modern Art. She has taught in local colleges and universities, curated exhibitions, and given public lectures in a wide variety of venues. In addition to using traditional art mediums, such as painting and drawing, Freedman has explored video, performance art, and digital collage. Her work has been included in more than 300 exhibitions. She has collaborated with other visual artists on a variety of projects, including live painting performances, public art installations and a monthly newsletter. Freedman has also worked with musicians, writers, and dancers to create multi-media events for local museums, such as Hudson Valley MOCA, the Hammond Museum, and the Katonah Museum of Art. Find out more about Marcy Freedman and her work via marcybfreedman.com.
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