Safe Harbors of the Hudson Ann Street Gallery to Present THE SUBLIME REVISITED, Begin. 9/14

The themed exhibition The Sublime Revisited will be presented at the Safe Harbors of the Hudson Ann Street Gallery beginning September 14, 2013. Highlighting the discourse on the sublime that has developed over the centuries and presently enjoys a revival among contemporary artists, the exhibition provides a rare opportunity to view a diverse body of artwork that exemplifies myriad philosophical and aesthetic theories on the subject. Featuring the work of nineteen artists, The Sublime Revisited explores the concept of sublimity in terms of awe, terror, nature, technology and transcendence relative to the often conflicting written notions on the topic by Longinus, Burke and Kant.

Throughout the centuries, there have been many theories defining the sublime that have provided inspiration for artists. Whether used in a literary, philosophical, or aesthetical sense, the notion of the sublime has had endless power to inspire.

The Greek critic Longinus, of the first century A.D., is credited with writing Peri Hyposous, the first treatise on the topic. For Longinus, the sublime is both literary and romantic, possessing the "power to provoke ecstasy" and to "transport" the reader. In the eighteenth century, Edmund Burke's aesthetic treatise Philosophical Inquiry defined the sublime as "whatever is fitted...to excite the ideas of pain, danger or the terrible." And taking Burke's sublime one step further in 1790, Immanuel Kant, in his The Critiques of Judgment, made the connection of the sublime between the imagination and the rational mind.

The Sublime Revisited features works by artists Toby Barnes, Dennis Cady, Bryan Christie, Liz Ensz, Snow Yunxue Fu, Abhi Ghuge, Aron Johnston, Christopher Lonegan, George Lorio, Caitlin McCormack, Kyle McKenzie, Sophia Narrett, Chee Wang Ng, Eric Norby, Jaeman Shin, Raphael Fenton-Spaid, Ana Vizcarra Rankin, Rachael Wren and William Ruller.

The exhibition is curated by Virginia Walsh, Director of the Safe Harbors of the Hudson Ann Street Gallery.

Safe Harbors of the Hudson (SHOH) is a large-scale nonprofit redevelopment project in the City of Newburgh, New York, whose mission is transforming lives and building communities through housing and the arts. It is comprised of the Ann Street Gallery, a contemporary arts venue; the historic Ritz Theater, a live performing arts space in the process of being renovated; and the Cornerstone Residence, home to 128 adults including the formerly homeless, veterans, those living with mental health diagnoses, artists and low income working adults in need of affordable housing.