PRESS RELEASE - 11/20/2020

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Artist Richard Klein at HENRY in Hudson

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HUDSON – Richard Klein, artist and Director of Exhibitions at the Aldrich Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut, attributes the appeal of found objects to his childhood relationship with his grandfather.  “He was an electrical engineer for the PATH trains,” Klein explains.  “He was a huge influence.  He had great mechanical ability and he collected odd, unidentifiable discards.  I’d see pieces from the trains in his basement.”

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Cut to another childhood experience.  “My parents took me to Edison’s labs near our New Jersey home.  From that point on, I became obsessed with Edison and obsessed with light.  To this day, that is a big thread running through my work.  I describe it as 'light going out’.  It’s a metaphor for both our current state of affairs and what is happening in our personal lives.”

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Maybe one more important detail -   He’s worn glasses all his life.  So about 25 years ago, he started creating art using glass.  Specifically, he used his own drawer full of old beaten up eyewear and made a sculpture.  That was the start. 

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“I don’t do any glass blowing,” he explains.  “I do a minimal amount of manipulation.  Mostly I am interested in the transparency of the product. For me, ultimately, it’s about light – not the physical world.   Since I was young, I’ve intuitively understood that matter was condensed light.” 

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Art Among the Goods features works by specially selected artists that are interspersed with the inventory at the store Henry, an antiques shop at 348 Warren Street in Hudson, New York.  Owner Nancy Shaver, herself an artist, finds excitement in juxtaposing the work of her colleagues with artifacts from earlier times.  It also, frequently, reflects how a private dwelling incorporates old and new. 

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Klein’s growth as an artist includes a disdain for his early fastidiousness.  “When I started using found objects,” he says, “it freed me up.  Now, I try not to worry about the details - to NOT make it perfect.  The rough edges contribute.”

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And, in that regard, Klein feels honored to be included in this exhibit at Henry.  “I regard Nancy Shaver as a great artist and teacher.  You walk into the store and it is an environment with incredible integrity.  She makes decisions based on an aesthetic.   Her motivation is more artistic passion than capitalism.”

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“I’d like to think my work has a value outside of the world of perfect light and display.  Our nature is trying to categorize things.  At Henry, those sort of categories are a little bit messed up.  You’re asked to look at things for their own worth.  There is no hierarchy.”

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Richard Klein’s work will be on display through January 10, 2021.  Store hours are Friday and Saturday - noon until 6PM.  Sunday 11AM – 4PM.  Henry is located at 348 Warren Street, Hudson.  For more information, call 518.828.2354.

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PHOTO CAPTION:  Made of burnt-out light bulb fragments and brass screening, Richard Klein’s “Pillow”, is one of several pieces of his work that will be on display at Henry, 348 Warren Street, Hudson beginning Friday, December 4th, 2020.

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