Artnet: Here’s What to See at Upstate Art Weekend, From An Artist’s Installation of ‘Truck Nuts’ to Mendes Wood’s Upstate Debut

Upstate Art Weekend (UPAW) returns for its fourth edition July 21–24, with events and exhibitions across New York’s Hudson Valley, from KinoSaito in Westchester to Ellsworth Kelly’s studio, just south of Albany.

“It’s impossible to do everything,” founder Helen Toomer said. “This event was created to shine a light on the incredible organizations in the region and to solidify lasting connections with those visiting to come back.”

UPAW debuted with just 23 participants in 2020. This year, 60 new galleries, collectives, and institutions joined the event, boosting the total participants to 130.

The latest edition to this year’s lineup is Archipelago, in Germantown. An “arts-and-research institute devoted to spirituality, thinking, and healing,” Mendes Wood DM soft launched Archipelago last fall with an exhibition it put together with the help of Los Angeles-based Blum & Poe.

“It’s non-commercial and operates under a planned but informal vision of a dispersed network of small centers for thought and art practice,” said Matthew Wood, a founding partner at Medes Wood DM. Argentinian painter Santiago de Paoli’s show “Cheese Moon Nights” opened at Archipelago June 24, and will be up through August 27. UPAW is the space’s hard launch, and it will be open all weekend.

Magazzino Italian Art will host UPAW’s private kickoff party Friday evening concurrent with their new show celebrating Michelangelo Pistoletto’s 90th birthday. By then though, the festivities will be well underway. Kathy Ruttenberg—the painter turned ceramic sculptor who has transformed the courtyard at Lyles & King into a fantasyland with her work, up through September 16—will open the church-turned-gallery on her Bearsville property for afternoon tours all weekend, starting Friday. Attendees can honor the original stewards of upstate’s natural beauty at Art Omi’s free Hudson Valley Intertribal Noise Symposium & Book Release that night.