(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)March 9, 2022

MAHWAH, N.J.   Jean-Marc Superville Sovak: a-Historical Landscapes continues on view through April 6 in the Pascal Gallery, Berrie Center at Ramapo College of New Jersey.  There will be a closing reception on Wednesday, April 6, from 5-7 p.m. The artist will give a talk about his work in the Kresge Gallery, Berrie Center on Monday, March 28 at 2 p.m.

Additionally, Sovak will present a special performance Stolen Sugar Makes the Sweetest Books outside by the campus Arch during the closing reception on April 6, at 6:45 p.m.

Sovak states the following about his work:

“Since 2019, I’ve been collecting original 19^th century landscape engravings typical of the representational idealism of the Hudson River School and altering them to include images of captured fugitive slaves and Underground Railroad caravans from anti-slavery tracts and illustrated abolitionist literature, which are very close in historical contemporaneity to the original printed engravings. As an artist of mixed-race working in the Hudson Valley, I aim my a-Historical Landscapes to be a decolonizing strategy to interrogate art historical conventions and to serve as a corrective by filling the absences left by those dominant narratives.”

Jean-Marc Superville Sovak is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice is deeply rooted in the community around him. His work involves altering 19^th-century landscape engravings to include images from Anti-Slavery publications, retracing speculative steps on the Underground Railroad, creating memorials to Afro-Dutch pioneers in Colonial America.  An MFA graduate of Bard College, Sovak’s art has been exhibited at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Socrates Park, Manifesta 8, and ISCP, NY.  Sovak guest curated We Wear the Mask: Representation at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, and he has been a Visiting Artist/Lecturer at SUNY New Paltz, Ramapo College, and Bard College.  Recently, the Loeb Art Center at Vassar College purchased two of his prints for their museum collection.

This project is supported in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. The Pascal Gallery is located in the Berrie Center for Performing and Visual Arts on the campus of Ramapo College.  Gallery hours are Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 1-5 p.m. and Wednesday from 1-7 p.m.  Galleries are closed for Spring Break the week of March 14.

For further information, please contact Sydney Jenkins at 201-684-7147.

###

About Ramapo College

Ramapo College of New Jersey is the state’s premier public liberal arts college and is committed to academic excellence through interdisciplinary and experiential learning, and international and intercultural understanding. The comprehensive college is situated among the beautiful Ramapo Mountains, is within commuting distance to New York City, was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America by CondeNast Traveler, and boasts the best on-campus housing in New Jersey per Niche.com. Established in 1969, Ramapo College offers bachelor’s degrees in the arts, business, data science, humanities, social sciences and the sciences, as well as in professional studies, which include business, education, nursing and social work. In addition, the College offers courses leading to teacher certification at the elementary and secondary levels, and offers graduate programs leading to master’s degrees in Accounting, Applied Mathematics, Business Administration, Contemporary Instructional Design, Computer Science, Creative Music Technology, Data Science, Educational Leadership, Nursing, Social Work and Special Education, as well as a Doctor of Nursing Practice.

Press Release Archives

| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 |