Past Exhibitions | Alice Austen House

Love Alice Austen: A benefit for the Friends of Alice Austen House, Inc.

01/10/13– 02/27/13

Love Alice Austen is a juried show of donated artwork that will be exhibited for one week and auctioned in a benefit for the Alice Austen House Museum. In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, The Alice Austen House Museum along with the Parks Department are working to restore the museum’s beachfront park. Your donation will help this effort as we approach our new season of exciting programs and exhibitions.

We invite you to send us submissions of inspiring artwork in all disciplines, including photography, painting, sculpture, illustration, sound, ect. In this time of recovery, strong consideration will be given to the work that carries a theme of love, hope, beauty, renewal, and strength to offer the local community a show of positive works to move forward in 2013.

Requirements:

Jpegs of submission should be sent to sara@aliceausten.org. By February 5^th 2013.

File should be saved as jpegs, 1000px wide. Please do not send hi res files.

Please note: the work doesn’t not have to relate to Superstorm Sandy.

Accepted submissions should be ready to hang on the wall and artists are responsible for the delivery of the work. The museum is happy to help where possible.

About the Auction:

Work will be juried by the staff of the Alice Austen House Museum and Melanie Franklin Cohn, Executive Director of COAHSI.

All selected submissions will be sold in a silent auction to benefit the Alice Austen House Museum’s recovery.

The exhibition opens to the public February 12^th hours are Tuesday – Saturday 11 A.M. – 5P.M.

Closing party and auction on February 16^th⁽weather permitting).

Please stay tuned for updates and opportunities to volunteer at aliceausten.org and follow us on Facebook.com/aliceaustenhouse

Haunted Houses by Corinne May Botz

09/22/12– 12/30/12

Haunted Houses By Corinne May Botz

For more than ten years, the Corinne May Botz searched for ghost stories in buildings across the United States. She ventured into these haunted places with both camera and tape recorder in hand; her photographs, accompanied by first-person narratives, reveal a rare glimpse into American interiors, both physical and psychological.

She says, “The first thing that inspired the project were writers like Edith Wharton, Charlotte Bronte and even Toni Morrison. Often these ghost stories were written by women as a means of articulating domestic discontents. I was interested in the idea of a woman being trapped in the home or by domestic space and how this was expressed in history."

Read more about the work here on TIME LightBox.

To see more of the artists work visit.

Buy the book Haunted Houses here.

Foreclosed: Documents from the American Housing Crisis

03/31/12– 09/16/12

The Alice Austen House Museum is pleased to present Foreclosed: Documents from the American Housing Crisis. The exhibition includes works by: Bruce Gilden, Lauren Greenfield, Todd Hido, Imara Moore, John Moore, John Francis Peters, T.J. Proechel, Brian Shumway, Brian Ulrich and Guillaume Zuili.

The exhibition examines how artists are using photography to record the aftermath of the housing bubble; from its beginning in 2006 to the dramatic effects it still has on the American Landscape today. The artists and photographers in the exhibition depict the ruins of rich and poor neighborhoods, as well as the families affected by the economic downturn. As a result, the exhibition aims to explore the disintegration of the American dream and how it effects a culture where home ownership is no longer a reality for many.

The Alice Austen House provides its unique domestic setting to view the haunting imagery of places now abandoned. Artists such as Todd Hido capture what has been left behind in these modern ghost towns, whereas documentary photographers like John Moore capture the stories of those most affected. In essence, what has remained is a stark and vast wasteland filled with eerie reminders of what was lost. Juxtaposing Austen's history and home with photographs depicting the current crisis, the exhibition offers a unique setting to connect the crisis of the Great Depression with the current recession.

The museum will also display Alfred Eisenstaedt's vintage images from LIFE of Alice Austen's emotional visit to the home she lost.

At the May 5th opening, between 1:00-2:00pm, there will be a special presentation with photographer John Moore, Getty Images, and Paul Moakley, Deputy photo editor TIME, about his World Press Photo winning series documenting the American foreclosure crisis followed by a Q&A about the exhibition.

Dressed to Play: Sporting Clothes, 1870 - 1900

06/30/11– 12/14/11

During the late 19th century, the upper and middle classes of American society were introduced to leisurely pursuits such as tennis, hiking, bicycling and golf. Activity-specific sport clothing emerged to meet the physical demands of these new activities. While far less formal than ordinary attire, these garments still followed the accepted rules of fashion. Ensembles worn for croquet and ice-skating were constructed with elaborate drapes over bustle cages during the 1870s and 1880s, while giant, puffed “gigot” sleeves adorned cycling shirtwaists and jackets during the mid-1890s. Despite newfound social freedoms experienced through sporting activities, few concessions were made for the comfort of female players. Decency required women to wear corsets, even while swimming at the beach.

Alice Austen, one of America’s first and most prolific female photographers, not only captured these leisure activities on film, but also participated herself. She was a master tennis player, sailor, hiker, and horsewoman. Her photographs of adults and children at play are the center of this exhibition. The two adjoining galleries also feature illustrations from magazines and mail order catalogs, all highlighting the relationship between casual sporting attire and social changes at the end of the 19th century. The exhibition culminates in a vignette featuring two fully-dressed mannequins, located in the parlor immediately across the hall.