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Photo by Mark Lacko.
Fall Forum: The American Artists’ Hand Archive
Judy Pfaff. Bronze, detail.
David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center at Pocantico
Free of charge; advanced registration required.
Vanessa Hoheb and Thomas Donahue will present a lecture on the American Artists’ Hand Archive (AAHA) exhibition Portraits of Process, currently on view in the DR Center gallery.
Hoheb, founder and director of the AAHA, and Donahue, AAHA artistic director, met at Pratt Institute in 1975 and have been collaborating on an exceptional body of work for over 45 years.
Their list of clients reads like a “who’s who” in American art: Willem de Kooning, Robert Indiana, Mary Frank, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tiffany & Co., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, the National Park Service restoration of the Statue of Liberty, the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York, in addition to private and public sculptural and architectural commissions.
Their shared history in the world of making art will be illustrated by a presentation with behind-the-scenes images of artists in their studios and works in progress. Vanessa will describe how this unique journey led to the development of the American Artists’ Hand Archive.
Following the presentation, guests will have the opportunity to handle and examine in detail a curated selection of some of the bronze life hand castings represented in the exhibition.
A Q&A will be followed by a reception with special access to the DR Center gallery, currently showing Portraits of Process.
Vanessa Hoheb
Vanessa Hoheb has been working with artists for five decades and was instrumental in the making of sculptures for Willem de Kooning, Louise Nevelson, Jasper Johns, Frank Stella, Richard Prince, Mary Frank, and William Tucker. She was assistant director of the Reproduction Studio at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and led the Hoheb Studios team in restoring the skin of the Statue of Liberty. Vanessa taught at Pratt Institute and lectures at art colleges across the United States.
Thomas Donahue
Thomas Donahue has worked within the art community for over 45 years. He is a sought-after consultant in materials, methods, and design on countless historic architectural and sculptural projects. A sculptor himself, he has collaborated with other artists in realizing commissions. His exhibition designs for the Tiffany & Co. Archives have traveled internationally. In addition to being the artistic director of the American Artist's Hand Archive, he curates a large privately held collection of 20th and 21st-century sculptures, paintings, and drawings.