Taking It to the Streets: Parrish Road Show opens Saturday — naturally

The East End’s natural beauty has been a wellspring of inspiration for a multitude of artists over the decades (and, truly, centuries). But this year’s Parrish Road Show’s upcoming off-site installation at Bridge Gardens (36 Mitchel Lane, Bridgehampton), “Andrea Cote: To Belong to the World,” takes that creative innovation to the root, sky and even your own body.

“The curators, Kaitlin Halloran and Brianna Hernandez, invited me in November of last year, and soon after that we discussed sites and mediums for the project,” says the artist.

Cote, a Hampton Bays resident, created “To Belong to the World” using cyanotype-printed fabrics, which employs light exposure to capture the shadow of images on, in this instance, cotton fabric using vibrant shades of blue to highlight and contrast the images of leaves, flowers, hands, faces and bodies, formed into patterns that call to mind both the celestial and the cellular — from the vastness of the heavens to the most intimate gurgling of human existence.

“I’ve been engaging with the body and human interaction in my work for over 25 years, and recently came to incorporate the nature that surrounds us in a more direct way,” says Cote. Several years ago, LA-based artist Nina Waisman introduced her to the use of cyanobacteria — blue-green algae — in her art via a collaboration on the Guild Hall project “Swept Away.” The colorful, water-loving, photosynthetic bacteria is one of the oldest known to humans, at well over 3 million years old.

“[It’s] the life form from whom we evolved. My own work evolved as I began to shape sand, seaweed, then leaves and wildflowers to take the form of my body,” Cote says. “Where does my body end and nature begin? Can we mend this feeling of separateness? It feels like an urgent question. It’s very fluid how nature informs my work now.”

The installation, which was funded in part by Jane Wesman and Donal Savelson, as well as public funding from Suffolk County, is a thoroughly unique and quite remarkable collection to witness, due to Cote’s folding the display site intimately into the work. She chose specific sites at Bridge Gardens for the large banners to hang and fly, using erected bamboo structures and even trees. The placement of each banner not only highlights the lovely landscape, but tracks the sun’s seasonal path through them, using solar exposure to make the art an almost interactive experience, depending on the time of day you see them.

“I’m hoping people are drawn to move through the gardens as they encounter the banners, which weave throughout in a kind of choreography. They frame and complement the different locations – pieces circle the Rose Garden, suspend from trees and engage with the Herb Garden,” Cote says.

Cote spent the past year collecting ferns, holly leaves, flowers, bamboo and other elements from the the site in order to create the banners, using elements of the public five-acre spot, which is part of the Peconic Land Trust, to actually be an important aspect of the installation’s inspiration.

“As you look closer, you may identify some of the natural elements, such as the daffodils that bloomed in the same spot back in spring, and see the integrated body prints.” It’s a way, she says, to experience your body in a particular place at a specific moment. Like everyone’s always saying these days, and rightly so: Be present. This is the kind of art that compels you to do just that.

This year marks the 13th annual installation of the Parrish Art Museum’s community-engaging project, created to not just bring art to the people but to find new ways to bring artists, residents and visitors of all ages together to interact with art in different places and ways, from public parks like Bridge Gardens, to local historical sites of importance to community hubs.

The exhibit’s six banners begin their public display this Saturday, September 14 at the opening reception from 2 to 4 p.m. at Bridge Gardens, where all are welcome to attend and to listen to Cote discuss and guide attendees through the work. If you can’t make the Saturday launch, be sure to head over to Bridge Gardens by October 14, when this year’s Parrish Road Show ends.