Historical Society records 'poetry of the world'

SHARON — The Sharon Historical Society will open its newest exhibit, “Monet’s Gardens: Giverny, Provence and Berry†on Saturday, Nov. 21, with a reception from 4 to 6 p.m. The exhibit is a collection of photographs taken by North  Canaan resident Jean Yves Valette and inspired by the works of Monet.

“They are photos of a carefully cultivated and landscaped nature,†said Liz Shapiro, the historical society’s executive director. “They are lovely and graceful photographs, the perfect reminder of beautiful summers gone by, which is wonderful for the drab winter.â€

Valette was born in Mali, West Africa, into a French military family.

At 16, he enrolled in the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris where he studied set design, painting and sculpture.

After graduating, he enlisted in the French Navy and became a set designer for their theater company.

He moved to Connecticut in 1972 and spent several years as a commercial and portrait photographer.

Valette became interested in using his photography skills to record the human condition after seeing a movie about the rampant poverty in Cape Horn, Africa.

He traveled throughout Africa, Central America, Haiti and the Appalachian Mountains in Kentucky documenting the social conditions he encountered in each locale.

“It feels like all of my life I have been taking photographs of the human tragedy throughout the world,†Valette said, speaking with a rich French accent. “A few years ago I became sick and I lost a good part of my vision. I was not able to take photographs.â€

Valette said that when his vision came back two years ago, he wanted to rededicate his photography skills to recording the beauty in the world.

“I think that before I was taking photos in order to make a social and political statement,†he said. “Now I’m more interested in recording the poetry of the world and the embodiment of it.â€

The exhibition honors French impressionist painter Claude Monet, whom Valette cites as an important influence.

“I’m trying to use my camera as a paintbrush,†Valette said. “I feel like we take nature for granted. For me, when you take photographs, you have to go beyond and let your soul and heart talk to you.â€

The exhibit runs until Friday, Jan. 8. The Historical Society is open Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information call 860-364-5688 or visit sharonhist.org.

Latest News

Finding ‘The Right Stuff’ for a documentary

Tom Wolfe

Film still from “Radical Wolfe” courtesy of Kino Lorber

If you’ve ever wondered how retrospective documentaries are made, with their dazzling compilation of still images and rare footage spliced between contemporary interviews, The Moviehouse in Millerton, New York, offered a behind-the-scenes peek into how “the sausage is made” with a screening of director Richard Dewey’s biographical film “Radical Wolfe” on Saturday, March 2.

Coinciding with the late Tom Wolfe’s birthday, “Radical Wolfe,” now available to view on Netflix, is the first feature-length documentary to explore the life and career of the enigmatic Southern satirist, city-dwelling sartorial icon and pioneer of New Journalism — a subjective, lyrical style of long-form nonfiction that made Wolfe a celebrity in the pages of Esquire and vaulted him to the top of the best-seller lists with his drug-culture chronicle “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” and his first novel, “The Bonfire of The Vanities.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Art on view this March

“Untitled” by Maureen Dougherty

New Risen

While there are area galleries that have closed for the season, waiting to emerge with programming when the spring truly springs up, there are still plenty of art exhibitions worth seeking out this March.

At Geary Contemporary in Millerton, founded by Jack Geary and Dolly Bross Geary, Will Hutnick’s “Satellite” is a collection of medium- and large-scale acrylic on canvas abstracts that introduce mixtures of wax pastel, sand and colored pencil to create topographical-like changes in texture. Silhouettes of leaves float across seismic vibration lines in the sand while a craterous moon emerges on the horizon, all like a desert planet seen through a glitching kaleidoscope. Hutnick, a resident of Sharon and director of artistic programming at The Wassaic Project in Amenia, New York, will discuss his work at Geary with New York Times art writer Laura van Straaten Saturday, March 9, at 5 p.m.

Keep ReadingShow less
Caught on Camera: Our wildlife neighbors

Clockwise from upper left: Wildlife more rarely caught by trail cameras at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies: great blue heron, river otters, a bull moose, presenter and wildlife biologist Michael Fargione, a moose cow, and a barred owl.

Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

‘You don’t need to go to Africa or Yellowstone to see the real-life world of nature. There are life and death struggles in your wood lot and backyard,” said Michael Fargione, wildlife biologist at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York, during his lecture “Caught on Camera: Our Wildlife Neighbors.”

He showed a video of two bucks recorded them displaying their antlers, then challenging each other with a clash of antlers, which ended with one buck running off. The victor stood and pawed the ground in victory.

Keep ReadingShow less