Newburgh - The Downing Park Planning Committee will host an exhibit of photographs by Newburgh artist Thomas Knieser at the Visitors Center during May. "Big Boat up the River" (the title is based on a Peter Paul & Mary ballad) is a collection of photographs of ships, tugs, barges and sloops as they sailed up and down the Hudson River Estuary. The winter scenes were taken as ice clogged the shipping lanes and snow blanketed the banks. This will be Knieser’s second solo show in the Visitors Center in Downing Park. His first was in January of ’05 with a show called "Visions of Two Parks" that compared the landscapes of Downing and Central Park in New York.
When Knieser retired from teaching, he received a digital camera and an offer to teach computer graphics at SUNY Orange. The camera and the computer opened up a new world for him of seeing things again for the first time. He says, "The Hudson River Valley took on a new life in the winter of 2003 when snow was deep and ice filled the river. I was able to capture its many facets. Then a friend suggested that I display my works at Mount St. Mary’s Artists on the Campus. I did and with that a new aspect of my life began." Knieser’s works have been sold at auction by the Newburgh Historical Society in 2004 and 2006 and hopefully in 2008, and at the YMCA auction in 2005.
Many of the galleries where Knieser first exhibited no longer exist: Studio 8 and Skybox in Kingston as well as Eric Jarmann and Hudson Valley Showcase in Newburgh. But he still exhibits at the James Douglas Gallery, Daily Bean and Eddie’s Deli in Montgomery and the Walden Library. During the summer months he exhibits at the River Art Walk on the Newburgh Waterfront where he has become a vital member of the organization team of RAW.
Knieser says of his current work, "I am drawn to the river even in winter. Whenever a big boat comes into view, I follow it from the bridge, along the riverfront to the heights in Newburgh. During the warm months, I photographed the sloop Clearwater after a storm and the Woody Guthrie under full sail. I’ve even seen the Half Moon sail from out of the past. The camera allows you to capture and record light in a fraction of a second in space-time. In a darkroom or on the computer you are able to edit and enhance the image to either define or alter the reality at your will. The instant will never come again but the vision is yours to shape and define."
This exhibit will be on view from May 1 through May 31 at the Visitors Center Gallery, located in the Shelter House in Downing Park, at Carpenter Avenue and Third Street, Newburgh. Gallery hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. For information, call 845-565-5559.
