During NADA Hudson, we drove around a little and visited some of the open studios, the site of Marina Abramovic’s future performance space and Olana, the 250-acre hilltop estate of Hudson River artist Frederic Edwin Church. Here’s a slide show of sites in and around the town.
This was right in the center of town. And though it will soon get the Rem Koolhaas treatment, it is still charmingly rundown, replete with bats in the rafters.
This building, which is situated in an old cemetery in Hudson, is used by four artists as their studio space: Mona Mark, Ieva Mediodia, Peter Barton and Liane Torre. During NADA Hudson, this building was among the many venues that held open studios.
The night before NADA Hudson, photographer and former Andy Warhol collaborator Gerard Malanga gave a spoken word performance with Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth. This piece, involving someone named Chandler, is reminiscent of the poems Mr. Malanga read the night before, which were like verbal portraits of people who inspired him, like Isabella Gardner and Arshile Gorky.
Mr. Barton makes intricate sculptures out of colorful wire mesh. And his studio had a great view of the cemetery.
Turning down Allen Street, we stumbled on an open house in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Hugh Thompson. Mr. Thompson, who is inspired by the Hudson River School of landscape painters like Frederic Edwin Church, made large paintings that blended landscapes with abstraction.
Standing in the studio of Mrs. Thompson, who made assemblages with photographs, found objects and meticulously folded paper, Mr. Thompson, who is also a cognitive psychologist, told us about the interest he developed in understanding the way artists make non-conscious perceptions concrete.
As part of NADA Hudson, there were special tours through this hilltop Persian-style home situated on 250 acres of property. Like Xanadu in Citizen Kane, or Doris Duke's Shangri-La, this home features an eclectic mix of art, architecture and furnishings inspired by his travels to Europe and the Middle East. Though this home was almost taken over by developers after Church's death, people like Jackie O. stepped in to help save it. And it was saved.
