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The Nature Conservancy Hosts “Warhol Preserved: Impressions of the Andy Warhol Preserve, Montauk”

Exhibition at Center for Conservation May 23 – September 1

East Hampton, NY — May 12, 2008 — The Nature Conservancy again brings together art and environment as part of its visual arts program for the Andy Warhol Preserve in Montauk. A photography exhibit, “WARHOL PRESERVED: Impressions of the Andy Warhol Preserve” will open on Friday, May 23, from 5-7 p.m. at The Nature Conservancy’s Center for Conservation, 142 Route 114, East Hampton. Some 35 photographs will be on view until September 1st. Regular hours are 9am - 5pm, Monday through Friday.

The photos in this exhibit were taken in Montauk at The Nature Conservancy’s 15-acre Andy Warhol Preserve, donated to the Conservancy in 1992 by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The donation was intended to preserve the ecologically significant Montauk Moorlands and to promote the visual arts.

Under the donation agreement, The Nature Conservancy sponsors four or more visual art events at the Warhol Preserve each year. The Conservancy, local schools, and art educators such as the Victor D’Amico Institute of Art (the “Art Barge” in Napeague) and Guild Hall have combined forces to bring visiting artists, workshops and school groups to the preserve. The dramatic views from the bluffs and from the beach have inspired artists young and old for many years.

The photographs on display were taken as part of an annual environmental photography class led by local photographer, Rameshwar Das. The work spans years of film photography and more recent digital imaging. Nine present and former class participants are represented: Nancy Beckerman, Leslie Beebe, Carla Berger, Rameshwar Das, Tom Kaczmarek, Fran Levine, Katie Michell, Bobbie Pearson and Manuela Soares. The artists will donate 25 percent of the proceeds from sales to The Nature Conservancy.

“These many views of one place show how differently we see nature. Some photographs dwell on vistas, others focus on minute details, some simply record the natural scene and others use it as a point of departure,” said Rameshwar Das. “The camera freezes the scene, excises the photo from context and depersonalizes it. Mechanically it's just another frame, another snapshot in an endless progression, but it's also the modern version of alchemy, the camera obscura, a magic lantern. Light and shadow, line and texture, color and form translate into chemical salts and dyes or digital bits on sensor chips. The image is computer processed and inkjet printed onto canvas, stretched and mounted as a unique work.”

“Warhol Preserved” is being partially funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts with assistance from Graphik Dimensions, the printers of the work. The show will be open to the public from May 23 to September 1 at The Center for Conservation, 142 Route 114, East Hampton. Viewing hours are 9am - 5pm, Monday - Friday. The public is also welcome to attend the exhibit’s opening reception on Friday, May 23 from 5 - 7pm at the Center for Conservation. For more information contact The Nature Conservancy at (631) 329-7689.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific.  On Long Island, The Nature Conservancy has helped to preserve more than 100,000 acres. Visit us on the web at nature.org/longisland.