5 Picks For the Fall

The watchwords for this fall seem to be new, big, and bigger, considering the new venues that are opening up and the scale of some of the work that will be presented. Here’s a sampling of the ones that I am especially looking forward to:

Max Streicher's gigantic dung beetle

1. The Peter A. and Mary Lou Vogt Gallery in Canisius College’s Bouwhuis Library may very well be the smallest art venue in Buffalo, but their exhibitions are always well selected and engaging. Editorial cartoons are an often neglected and infrequently exhibited art form, so get there before September 26 to see some of Buffalo News cartoonist Adam Zyglis’s best work—insightful visual commentary on regional, national, and international issues.

2. On October 3 the Castellani Art Museum is following up its encyclopedic collection survey with an equally grand gesture in its’ main gallery by presenting Metamorphosis by Canadian artist Max Streicher, the central feature of which will be a 30-feet-wide-by-20-feet-tall, inflatable vinyl dung beetle resting on its back—really. This must be seen to be believed and, combined with related programs/displays from the theater, biology, English, and philosophy departments at Niagara University, it promises to be one of the most innovative visual arts presentations this fall.

3. Visit the Charles E. Burchfield Art Nature & Art Center in West Seneca between October 5 and November 30 and, in addition to great fall foliage, you’ll see Visions of Tifft, an exceptional series of large-scale photographs taken at Tifft Nature Preserve by Biff Henrich, one of Buffalo’s most accomplished photographers and former director of CEPA Gallery, whose work is in museum collections across the United States. The visual clarity of his images is as stunning as the vistas he captures.

4. Insite Gallery, renamed Indigo and now located at 74 Allen Street, will open their new space on October 17 with an exhibition of Catherine Parker’s current water media paintings, a series of works based on the poetry of Pablo Neruda. These works are part of a unique collaboration between the artist and composer Roland E. Martin, who has written a song cycle using the same Neruda poems as lyrics. That work will premiere (accompanied by the paintings) at UB’s Slee Hall on October 10.

5. Rounding out the season, the Burchfield Penney Art Center will at long last open to the public and the November 22 & 23 opening weekend programming will be as expansive as the name of the museum on the front of the building. Since the new facility will be open for an eye-opening 31 hours straight, this gives you plenty of time to see the 11 historic and contemporary exhibitions, most of which showcase the best work from their collection by a veritable who’s who of significant artists associated with Western New York. For more details, visit yournewburchfieldpenney.com.

—gerald mead