SLACK TIDE: CURATED BY MATTHEW NICHOLS
September 14 - October 13, 2019
Reception: Saturday, Sept. 14, 5-7pm
Open: Friday - Sunday 12-5pm
and by appointment

Installation photos by Hiroyuki Hamada

SLACK TIDE: EXHIBITION CHECKLIST

The Arts Center at Duck Creek is pleased to announce Slack Tide, a group exhibition curated by Matthew Nichols that features art made by peter campus, Cindy Hinant, Matthew Larson, Luke Murphy, Hanna Sandin, Jean Shin, and Carrie Yamaoka.  On view from September 14 to October 13, 2019, the exhibition hours will be Friday to Sunday, 12-5 PM.  An opening reception is scheduled for Saturday, September 14, 5-7 PM.

Tides rise and fall.  They ebb and they flow.  This cycle occurs twice a day in most bodies of sea water, including the numerous harbors and bays of eastern Long Island.  The term “slack tide” describes a periodic state when little to no tidal movement is detectable.  This short-lived phenomenon occurs just before the tide reverses direction – from flood to ebb, or from ebb to flood.  As one current yields to the other, an aquatic stasis is achieved, a brief and sometimes appreciable sense of calm and equilibrium.

Not unlike a slack tide, an art exhibition invites a short stretch of contemplative looking between arrival and departure.  While this larger metaphor may guide the viewer’s engagement with the show, the works of art in Slack Tide manifest its premise through a wide range of materials and creative processes.  Water is a presence in some of the art, including a digital video shot on the shores of Shinnecock Bay.  Other allusions to tidal forces are decidedly abstract and not necessarily intended by their makers.  Yet when viewed together in the Duck Creek barn, in close proximity to Three Mile Harbor, these varied works prove to share a number of tidal qualities and motifs.

Matthew Nichols is an Associate Professor of art history at Christie’s Education in New York.  His nautical knowledge is limited.  But he tracks the tides in order to walk his dog along the beach in Sea Cliff, New York.

For additional information, please contact duckcreekarts@gmail.com