By John Hood
Blame William Everett Chase. Not only did the flamboyant fine artist’s 1891 founding of the Shinnecock Hills Summer School of Art inspire Samuel Longstreth Parrish to open the Parrish Art Museum in 1897, but he set the stage for the East End of Long Island’s so-called Gilded Age, which, like the Parrish, will never go away.
Or blame the numerous Hudson River, Ashcan and New York School grads who’ve made the Hamptons home, from the rogue Brit Thomas Moran (“whose vision of the Western Landscape was critical to the creation of Yellowstone National Park”), through Pollock and Krasner and the De Koonings (whose visions were critical to post-modern art).
Or blame the numerous Art Students League and School of Visual Art alum who now populate that sacred strip of island, and whose life and works continue to infuse the East End with its own brand of unmitigated vivid.
Whomever you blame, or credit, the fact remains, there’s no place in the whole wild world with the robust art history of the Hamptons.
Keeping that tradition -- and propelling it a significant step forward -- is the New York Academy of Art, which boasts Andy Warhol among its founders and Eric Fischl, Susannah Coffey, Donald Kuspit and Jenny Saville among its faculty and critics.
The Academy also boasts longstanding relationships with some of the East End’s most accomplished artists, as well as an increasingly close connection to the annual Art Southampton, with whom the institution teams each summer for something exquisite.
This year that exquisiteness will come courtesy of the impeccably accomplished April Gornik, who divides her time between the End End and Manhattan, her grace between Small and Large depictions of the most breathtaking landscapes n/ever before seen, and who will turn her considerable talents to curating a site specific exhibition which will bring everything into a fully learned circle.
Art Southampton asked the go-getter to fill us in on what’s in store for this summer’s stock of art ops and afficianadoes; here’s what she had to say:
What have you got slotted with NYAA at Art Southampton?
The title of the show is simply Academy at Art Southampton. The NYAA will have booth AS10 and will feature Academy artists who’ve been chosen by me to be represented, with great work for sale. The show previews on Friday, July 10 with a cocktail reception and the work on view will be stunning, I can guarantee.

Who all is in on the action?
David Kratz, Peter Drake, Lisa Kirk and I all discussed my choices for the show, and the list now includes:
James Adelman, Tamalin Baumgarten, Nicholas Borelli, Dina Brodsky, Garrett Cook, Alexis Hilliard, Joshua Henderson,William Logan, Elisabeth Mcbrien, Gary Murphy, Nicolas Sanchez, Buket Savci, Sarah Schlesinger, Stephen Shaheen, Chie Shimizu, Krista Smith, and Moses Tuki.
How’d you get roped into the project?
This show repeats the Academy’s participation at Art Southampton for the last couple of years, and it’s been a highly successful venture both in helping worthy artists have their work be seen and sold, and in terms of spotlighting the very worthy NYAA itself.

Will this be your first colliding with the Academy (of this or any sort)?
No, I have given a few talks at the Academy and have done a little teaching there, most recently doing a Master Class weekend workshop there this past February. I am a longtime friend of Eileen Guggenheim and Russell Wilkinson as well, who have been so instrumental in making the Academy the fine institution it has become.
Are there plans for subsequent collidings and/or co-conspirings?
I can only hope so! I enjoy the Academy environment, the seriousness and talent of the students, and have enjoyed seeing the trajectory of the school expand and improve yearly.
If you had but a single sentence to sum up the exhibition’s objective, what would it be?
I can only quote from their website, to do them justice. It says:
At the New York Academy of Art, we believe that the world of visual art is built upon the essential cornerstones of figurative drawing, painting, and sculpture. Mastering these disciplines is critical to the development of an artist's personal vision and, ultimately, to the creation of vital contemporary art.
The Academy at Art Southampton curated by April Gornik runs from July 10th through 13th at the Art Southampton Pavilion on the site of Nova’s Ark Project 60 Millstone Road Bridgehampton NY. For more information log on here.
Pictured, from top:
Chie Shimizu, Maquette No.7, 2013, ultracal, plaster, pigment, white gold leaf, 22 x 20 x 9 inches, edition 1 of 5, courtesy of the artist and Dillon Gallery
James Adelman, Untitled Meditation (Hanging Heart), 2014, oil on linen, 40 x 30 inches
Elisabeth McBrien, At the Motel, 2015, oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches
Krista Smith, Hide, 2015, oil on canvas, 56 x 54 inches