Rosalie D. Gagné: A Contemporary Alchemist Opens September 18 at the Neuberger Museum of Art
A poetic exploration of the intersection between science, technology, and skilled, handcrafted artistry
September 10, 2024 | Purchase, NY In Rosalie D. Gagné: A Contemporary Alchemist, the Neuberger Museum of Art explores the artist’s fascination with opposing worlds—organic and artificial, solid and ethereal, microcosm and macrocosm. Tensions between nature, science, technology, and humankind’s place in the universe are manifested through freehand drawings, sculptures, and sophisticated, interactive installations. Gagné deftly intertwines traditional and synthetic materials with computers, electronics, ventilators, motion detectors, LED light systems, robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. Her art gives space for nature to talk back, to inform, and to be in dialogue with the viewer. Her organic forms and materials subvert and surprise the cultivated spaces.
Among the works on view are eccentric glass vases and liquids resembling those of a chemistry laboratory. The hanging sculpture, Pendulum (2006), inspired by Foucault’s device, expresses Gagné’s interest in cosmology. Her ventures into biology and meditation inspired sound, movement, and color-generating installations and sculptures that emulate shapes and behaviors found in nature. And in collaboration with colleague Sofian Audry, her ambitious Morphosis project explores the boundaries between artificial and biological life through robots and machine learning algorithms.
Her first solo retrospective, A Contemporary Alchemist documents the breadth of Gagné’s artistic production since 1997. The exhibition showcases her most important site-specific projects, including Artificial Kingdom IV (2020): forty-five inflatable polyethylene cells that hang from a twenty-foot ceiling and react to the visitor’s presence. First installed in the Grand Theatre de Québec in 2020, this major installation will be replicated for the Neuberger Museum of Art’s Theater Gallery.
The exhibition is organized by the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, SUNY, in collaboration with the Willowell Foundation; it is curated by Patrice Giasson, the Alex Gordon Curator of Art of the Americas.
“No matter the historical prisms through which her work is viewed, it is always unique, in constant evolution, and driven by a sincere poetic impulse,” said Giasson.
Funding for the exhibition and its fully illustrated catalogue has been generously provided by the Alex Gordon Foundation, with the support of the Alex Gordon Estate. The artist has also received funding from the Conseil des arts et de lettres du Québec and the Canada Council for the Arts to support works that will be showcased in this exhibition.
Rosalie D. Gagné A Contemporary Alchemist will be on view at the Neuberger Museum from September 18 through December 22, 2024. An opening reception for the exhibition will be held on Wednesday, September 18, beginning at 4:30pm. The artist and curator will be present. The event is free and open to the public; advance registration is requested.
Press images available upon request.
The Neuberger Museum of Art is celebrating its 50th anniversary throughout 2024. The Museum opened at the heart of the Purchase College, State University of New York (SUNY) campus in 1974 with a core collection donated by Roy R. Neuberger, one of the greatest private collectors, philanthropists, and arts advocates of the twentieth century. Today, critically acclaimed exhibitions, tours, lectures, and interactive programs for patrons of all ages make the Neuberger a center of teaching and learning for all stages of life.
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