R Gallery at Arlene's
Ken Rutsky
Resilient Region
April 7, 2023, to April 29, 2023
Artist Reception: Friday, April 7, 2023,
from 4:30 to 5:30 pm
Ken Rutsky: Resilient Region spotlights the avenues and architecture of New York’s Capital Region. It focuses on the well-traveled but little-noticed corridors used by daily commuters and locals running errands. Taking places in which people live and carry out their daily lives causes us to stop and admire their unique beauty. Reimagining them to show us what makes the Capital Region special and why we call it home.
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The architecture of a city reflects the character of the people who dwell within it. As one who drives the streets of New York’s Capital Region daily in the course of his job, Rutsky believes you can most vividly see the character of the tri-cities in places that aren’t necessarily featured on tourist ads and travel blogs: the houses, apartments, and alleys where people live work and play. Here, the buildings may show their age, but they stand resilient, diverse, and with silent pride. These oft-trod but little-noticed spaces stand as a reflection and metaphor of the resilient, diverse, and proud population of the Capital Region, the force pushing some of the nation’s oldest communities to the forefront of culture and technology.
Ken Rutsky is a fine artist currently living in Troy, NY. He has called New York’s Capital Region home since the age of one when his family moved to Saratoga Springs. While the cultivation of serious studio practice is a relatively recent development for him, Rutsky has been a life-long creator, with personal and academic achievements in writing and music and a love of live performance. His oil and acrylic paintings reflect his love of the region, particularly its streets and old architecture. Rutsky’s best work – showing the influence of 19th-century Impressionism, 20th-century Realism, and 21st-century neo- Expressionism – features dramatic light, subtle shadows, and strong compositions that express his admiration for his subjects.
Rutsky credits his elementary school art teachers for instilling a love of color and of painting in him at an early age, and his instructors in Junior and Senior High School for developing that love and expanding his understanding of what counted as expression. His decision several years ago to seriously pursue fine arts was initially self-directed, relying on books and video to establish a foundation of technique; when he reached the inevitable plateau, Rutsky enrolled at Hudson Valley Community College to solidify his basic skills and take his work to the
next level. He earned an Associate’s Degree from HVCC in 2020, and since then he has continued to attend the Advanced art class at the school. Ken Rutsky has shown his art for Nadur Arts in Galway, NY (2020, 2021); the Gloversville Art Walk (2021, 2022); BUILT 2021; and Art Around Albany (2021).
Image gallery
