Corey Breneisen Habitats and Hibernation

Opening January 21, Houghton House Gallery is pleased to present new sculptures and drawings by William Smith alumna, Corey Breneisen (’98). Ten years after her senior exhibition at Houghton House, Breneisen returns in a solo show inspired by the paper architecture of Shigeru Ban. Breneisen uses Ban’s unlikely construction material, paper, as well as industrial felt, clothespins and fiber to create playful habitats that evoke whimsical winter landscapes.

Habitats and Hibernation is the first show to combine Breneisen’s better known large scale sculpture with her smaller mixed media drawings. The sculptures are wild architectural forms imbued with an animalistic animation that makes one question whether they are the habitats or the creatures that reside within? In contrast, the drawings tamely depict the paradigmatic architectural features of an urban environment. They offer a subtle context for reading the larger work, what is real is small and what is imagined is large. Breneisen’s characteristic emphasis on the wild, the imaginary and the playful side of art is the feature of the show.

Corey Breneisen earned an M.F.A. from Pratt Institute in 2003. Her work has been exhibited nationally in shows at S.O.I.L. Gallery in Seattle, Washington; The Brooklyn Academy of Music; The Brooklyn Public Library and The Mainline Gallery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and son.

A reception for the artist will take place on Saturday, February 2nd from 6-8 p.m.

UNE-AUGUST EXHIBITIONS AT BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY

On display from Tuesday, June 27 -- Sunday, August 13, 2006

Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) features four exhibitions on display from Tuesday, June 27 -- Sunday, August 13, 2006 at its Central Library at Grand Army Plaza. The exhibitions, exploring MyBrooklyn, ambiagrams in Dan Brown's novels, scupltures and children's books, are free and open to the public.

My Brooklyn, in the Grand Lobby, is an exhibition of winners from the Fifth Annual Photo and Essay Contest, and is co-sponsored by Con Edison. My Brooklyn captures all the beauty and complexity of the borough through the eyes and imaginations of its residents. Their words and images reveal what unites us and what makes our community unique. Jurors for this year's competition included journalist Denis Hamill, photographer Larry Racioppo novelist Nelly Rosario and novelist Darin Strauss.

In Art as Play in the Second Floor Balcony Cases, Corey Breneisen transforms found objects into quirky sculptures, turning the function of everyday materials upside down. She is inspired by the magic found in the nursery rhymes and books of her childhood. The small sculptures being shown in this exhibit are derived from the writings of Roald Dahl, Shel Silverstein, Lewis Carroll and the nursery rhymes of Mother Goose. Corey Breneisen received her MFA from Pratt Institute in 2003. Currently she is living and working in Brooklyn as an art instructor.

Robert Langdon, the hero of this summer's big movie, based on Dan Brown's novel, The Da Vinci Code, is a fictional character. John Langdon, for whom Robert Langdon was named, is real. John Langdon's exhibition The Langdons in Dan Brown's Novels: Magic Words in Pop Fiction, will be in the Second Floor Balcony Cases, and it showcase ambiagrams -- words that can be read from multiple vantage points -- that John Langdon designed for Dan Brown's novel Angels & Demons. After majoring in English in college, John Langdon went on to teach typography and corporate identity design, at Moore College of Art, and he now teaches at The College of Media Arts and Design at Drexel University.

From Tuesday, June 27 -- Wednesday, October 1, 2006, in the Youth Wing are paintings and drawings by Keith DuQuette. His exhibition, Cock-a-Doodle MOOOO! A Mixed-Up Menagerie & Other Books, features a selection of finished paintings and drawings from his books for young readers. He has also included notes, character sketches, picture reference, page diagrams, dummies and color studies in hopes of showing the journey he goes through from his initial idea to the finished book. Keith DuQuette draws on his early influences in creating picture books for young readers. Keith and his wife Virginia live in Brooklyn, New York.

Brooklyn Public Library is an independent New York City library system serving the borough of Brooklyn. It is the fifth largest in the United States. Its Central Library, Business Library, and 58 neighborhood libraries offer free information, programs and computer access to people of all ages. You can reach the Library's resources of over 70 reference databases, catalog information and news 24 hours a day at www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org.

SOIL's upcoming show, PRESTO! Singular Work, Varied Compositions, features 6 artists' works that will change in composition each week in April. As a tribute to all things building blocks and Lincoln logs, bold and subtle transformations demonstrate versatility, mobility, and a sense of play in these works.

Corey Breneisen is currently living and working in Brooklyn, New York, making art in her basement studio while anxiously awaiting the birth of her baby. Inspired by her yoga practice that emphasizes both complete focus and complete letting go, Corey's art searches for a balance between meditation and play. Her rhythmic pieces from found objects undulating through space are reminders to just enjoy the pleasures of being right here, in this moment. When Corey is not creating in her studio, she can be found curled in her rocking chair with a big ball of wool and her knitting needles.