HANGING AT HOME

Curated by Julie McKim
Mod House, Ellenville NY
FALL 2021

NATALIE CAPANNELLI, GRAYSON COX, JUAN HINOJOSA, ERIC HOUGEN, LESLIE KERBY, AND JENNIFER MACK-WATKINS

For many of us, the concept of home holds a different meaning than it did a year prior. As we sheltered in place, our personal spaces morphed into both sanctuaries and make-shift survival bunkers overnight. What hung on our walls or lined our bookshelves was no longer only for personal consumption but was shared virtually over zoom meetings and facetime calls. The first Mod House art show, Hanging at Home, presents the work of six prolific mid-career artists: Natalie Capannelli, Grayson Cox, Juan Hinojosa, Eric Hougen, Leslie Kerby, and Jennifer Mack-Watkins. Over 30 works of collage, watercolor, prints, drawings and sculpture by these artists have been integrated into the living spaces of the house with the goal of sharing the artists’ work on the walls of a home rather than in a gallery or on a computer screen. 

Considering the evolving role of both home and art in our lives, we chose to install the pieces in Hanging at Home throughout the Mod House to create an alternative to the traditional ways we view art. We see this inaugural show as an opportunity to share the work and ideas of six distinct artistic voices and, in the process, remove the barriers to imaging what it is like to live with art. We hope that this will facilitate a more intimate and accessible experience, allowing for a deeper engagement with the work, the artistic process, and the artists. 

Nestled 90 minutes north of Manhattan, within the verdant embrace of the Catskills, there lies a place both stunning and full of cinematic intrigue —The Mod House. A retreat and event space of considerable legend, this 4,200 square foot mountainous monument to mid-century modern design first came to life in 1959 at the hands of a devoted disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright. Originally conceived as the original architect’s piece de resistance among other noteworthy modernist properties, it was also his own home and playhouse for the 1960s, followed by a cadre of eccentric characters and socialites.

In 2019, the property underwent a renaissance orchestrated by its latest steward and was reimagined as a whimsical micro-resort and cavernous private jazz club.