Local Self Portraits

Forget the midway and the fried dough down at the waterfront. Tout le monde was at the Hudson Opera House last night for the opening reception of Local Self Portraits. The exhibition, curated by Richard Roth, is made up of the self portraits of thirty-four artists from Hudson and the surrounding area.

The Center Hall Gallery at the Opera House was so jam-packed that navigating the room to view the art was nearly impossible. Gary Schiro reported that he'd never before seen so many people gathered in the space. But in spite of the press of people, I managed to single out three of Hudson's favorite artists and persuade them to pose with their self portraits.

Dan Rupe

Earl Swanigan

Tony Thompson

The other thirty-one artists whose self portraits are included in the show are Marina Abramovic, Richard Artschwager, Donald Baechler, R. O. Blechman, McWillie Chambers, Mihail Chemiakin, Lynn Davis, Judy Glantzman, Musho Rodney Alan Greenblat, Nancy Hagin, Phyllis Hjorth, Ellsworth Kelly, Dylan Kraus, Annie Leibovitz, Barbara Lehman, Reggie Madison, Gerard Malanga, Maria Manhattan, Richard Minsky, Sedat Pakay, Ken Polinskie, Lucio Pozzi, Eric Rhein, Edwina Sandys, Barbara Slate, Tim Slowinski, Ed Smith, Bill Sullivan, Benjamin Swett, Franklin Tartaglione, and Arthur Yanoff.

This is an exhibition not to be missed. Kudos to Richard Roth for putting it together. The self portraits can be viewed every day from noon to 5 through August 14.