COLLABORATIONS
Joep Beving, Immanence Embodied
Berkshire House hosted Immanence Embodied, a collaboration between Jonathan Prince and Joep Beving. Inspired by the mental experience of flow state, the artists entered a space of mutual inspiration to create a sonic-visual experience. The Flow State sculpture naturally resonates in B flat, found by NASA to be the sound of the universe. By placing an audio transducer in the sculpture, we were able to resonate the new composition by Beving through the sculpture, creating a new and unique sound and giving the sculpture vibrational wings.
The Carlyle, New York City
We are pleased to announce our collaboration with The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel, in New York.
For a limited time, guests can book the “Escape to Berkshire House” offer via The Carlyle. Guests will enjoy a day trip to Jonathan Princes Studio and Berkshire House for a personalized tour of the gallery and studio. The day also includes a four-course lunch with a private chef.
Two of Jonathan Prince’s sculptures are on display at The Carlyle through spring 2024.
Sol LeWitt, Artist
Sol LeWitt’s Wall Drawing WD 684C is on permanent loan from the LeWitt family and their foundation. A team of draftsmen and artists from Yale University have worked on the premises for two weeks to complete the work. Jonathan Prince Studio/Berkshire House is just one hour away from MASS MoCA, where the most extensive collection of Sol LeWitt’s wall drawings is held.
In Judaism, the number 18 signifies ‘Chai’ in Hebrew - which means Life (6+8+4 equals 18). The sacred number has relevance to sculptor Jonathan Prince and his own spiritual practice, and as an homage he will unveil a new work of his own alongside the wall drawing’s installation in early Spring 2022.
Solomon "Sol" LeWitt (1928 – 2007) was an American visual artist known for his founding contributions to the development of conceptual art and minimalism in the 1960s. His prolific catalogue of wall drawings implemented a system in which contributors such as draftsmen and artists could create his works in any given site based on instructions planned out by the artist. This collaborative method of execution is at the base of his philosophy, and often wall drawings are destroyed after some time and reinstalled in other locations and are adapted to their new settings.
John Procario, Lighting Design
Having grown up around his carpenter father’s workshop, John Procario brought his love of woodworking to the world of design. After studying sculpture in college, Procario developed a unique aesthetic that influences his sculptural furniture and lighting.
“I would describe my work as having a heartbeat,” says Procario of his custom-made bent-wood luminaires. “Each one has so much personality and as you move around them, the forms look like they are changing.” It’s not surprising for Procario to anthropomorphize his work; it is something the Cold Spring native has been doing since studying sculpture at State University of New York at Purchase, where he began to conceptually think of wood as a metaphor for the human body. “Just as we push the limits of our bones and muscles, I enjoy pushing the limits of wood to create a sense of strain in the material’s gesture,” he explains.
Procario pushes the limit of breakage to create a sense of strain in the otherwise fluid gestures of his wooden works. Conceptually, this allows beauty to be the product of stress. Procario’s sculptural lighting is composed of micro-laminated wood fused with LEDs. With a rough sketch in his mind, Procario freeform bends the wood into one of his signature undulating shapes. After months spent intentionally breaking wood—whether with a hydraulic press or simply his own strength—the designer gained a deep understanding of its structure and learned where to draw the line before hitting that breaking point.
The process is a delicate one,“wood doesn’t always want to work with you when you are freeform bending so you have to work with it,” he says. “But I really enjoy that. Sometimes it takes you in new directions that would never have happened if everything was planned out. In this way, the artistic process becomes a collaboration between the artist and the wood’s respective personalities. The outcome is an organic, fluid design with a distinct sense of motion.
The Long Meadow Art Residency was conceived in 2021 with the aim of supporting artists who create their art using diverse mediums and through a range of disciplines. Jonathan Prince is a member on the Board of Management.
The Residency aims to enrich and advance the creative trajectory of an artist by providing them an inspiring and supportive environment free from distractions; to establish a foundation that gives the artist freedom to engage their creativity, while cultivating a deeper interest in their overall wellness, while connecting with a community. The values held by Long Meadow include: Wellness, Collaboration, Artistic Freedom, Community, Expert Guidance.
During the three-month art residency, committed to our vision of incorporating wellness, the participant has access to a thorough medical evaluation, room and board, a state-of-the-art studio, art supplies, a stipend, access to a vehicle, support of an artistic community, and assistance from a diverse professional board. This opportunity offers the artist an experience to live in a two-bedroom home with a large, private studio space in an adjoining building, in the stunning Berkshire mountains - a serene and beautiful location to not only explore physically but also creatively.
The Berkshires has a thriving, intellectual, and curious community that is eager to receive, engage, and welcome artists, as well as being a mecca of holistic health, yoga, meditation, and self-healing.
JArts, Secrets of the Tarot
For centuries, the Vatican’s “Holy Office of the Inquisition” persecuted religious minorities who defied the church’s absolute authority over religious faith and doctrine. Across the six centuries of its existence, the Inquisition sentenced tens of thousands to people to death, tortured and imprisoned hundreds of thousands, and sent countless others into forced exile.
In 1492 the Inquisition was tasked with discovering Jews secretly defying the Alhambra decree of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, which had commanded the Jews of Spain to either convert to Catholicism or accept exile. Those suspected of observing Judaism in secret were routinely arrested, interrogated, and tortured.
Over the centuries secret Jewish communities in Spain, France, England, and even in the colonies of the new world, developed clandestine forms of Judaic observance now collectively known as crypto-Judaism.
The generational transmission of clandestine Jewish rituals was shrouded in extreme secrecy. Even many descendants of the crypto-Jews themselves were unaware of the Judaic origins of their family’s puzzling traditions.
Ground-breaking analysis has unearthed a 400-year-old Judaic secret hiding in plain sight, revealing the famous Tarot de Marseille, the artistic ancestor of contemporary Tarot cards, to be an artifact of crypto-Judaism. With the benefit of Augmented Reality technology, the images of the Tarot de Marseille will be newly opened to reveal their forgotten heritage to the public for the first time in nearly four hundred years.
Gabriel Scott, Furniture & Lighting Design
Gabriel Scott is a design house and production studio creating contemporary collections of fine furniture and lighting. Led by founder and CEO Scott Richler, all Gabriel Scott pieces are proudly handmade in a Montreal-based studio where an in-house team of industrial designers, engineers and manufacturers work together to create and oversee each piece from inception to production.
Established to blend Scott’s design experience developed over many years working in architecture, fashion and jewelry design, Gabriel Scott’s furniture and lighting collections are designed in line with the studio’s three principles: timeless, customizable and versatile aesthetic.
The exclusive line is available to view at their flagship showrooms in New York and London as well as through a global network of luxury lighting and furniture retailers.
Sarah Donde, Drawing
Sarah Donde is a Glasgow based South African artist and illustrator working with brands and clients to bring a playful take on beloved buildings and still life scenes with ligne claire inspired stylisation.
Website: https://sarahdonde.myshopify.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dondedraws/?hl=en
Work email: dondedraws@gmail.com