Installation by Professor Thomas Lail on view at College

September 24, 2019

“Garden,” an ongoing, site-specific installation by Fine Arts Professor Thomas Lail, can be viewed from inside or outside the Administration Building at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy since it scales the glass atrium of the building, and will remain on view indefinitely.

The installation is Lail’s over-sized rendering of a William Morris wallpaper pattern and reflects on the history of glassed-in winter gardens, cultivated nature, and the dream of Utopian architectures of transparency. This long-term work is the first in a planned series of window projects by faculty in the department of Fine Arts, Theatre Arts and Digital Media.

Lail exhibits in the United States and internationally. From 2011 to 2016, he was represented in New York by Masters Projects. Lail also performs and records with an experimental music duo, soundBarn, and the multi-member Location Ensemble. He has published numerous reviews and essays, including two catalogue essays on the work of Robert Longo, and releases poetry and experimental writing through soundBarn Press. Since 1993, Lail has taught drawing and painting at Hudson Valley Community College, where he is professor of Fine Arts and a recipient of the SUNY Chancellor's Award.

“Garden” was made possible by the Hudson Valley Community College Foundation’s Stephen L. Hyatt Fine Arts Fund, and installed in spring/summer 2018 with assistance from the college’s Graphics Department and Physical Plant, as well as NoName Graphics, Troy.

“Garden” is visible any day from outside the Administration Building, which is accessible daily except Sundays and when the college is closed. This installation is free and open to the public.