Serendipity: What Eye Saw — photography exhibit by Ron Cook at Dansville ArtWorks

Serendipity: What Eye SawA photography exhibit by Ron Cook
Dansville ArtWorks, 153 Main Street, Dansville NY 14437

September 1-25, 2021Wednesday-Friday 12-6pm, Saturday 10am-3pmArtist reception: Friday, September 10, 5-6:30pmFree and open to the publicArtworks available for purchase
Images attached:  photograph by Ron Cook, all rights reserved; Ron Cook, photographer from website

Dansville ArtWorks hosts the photography of Ron Cook in its gallery September 1-25, including an artist reception on Friday, September 10, 5-6:30pm. The gallery is located at 153 Main Street, Dansville, New York, and is accessible through The VAULT at the same address and through the rear municipal parking lot entrance to 153 Main. The exhibit and artist reception are free and open to the public. Ron’s photography is available to purchase.

Ron has a B.A. in Liberal Arts/English from SUNY Geneseo where he also studied art history. He grew up on a farm, has been a teacher, and worked in business and manufacturing. In retirement, Ron leisurely toils as abstract-photographer/artist and freelance writer. He champions artists who “color outside the lines” and is gobsmacked by the genius of artists like Picasso, O’Keeffe, architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and poet Bob Dylan. He enjoys art glass, Art Deco, and pottery. Ron, who was raised in Small-town America, also loves the vibrant, pulsing energy of large cities like New York, Toronto, and Havana. His goals for the future include living outside his comfort zone, trying and doing everything he was too afraid to try or do when he was young . . . and times were different.

Ron Cook was inspired by his high school art teacher, William “Scotty” MacCrea, to be authentic, to think independently, and to embrace and value the “different.” Seeking an outlet for creative energy, Ron has embraced abstract photography and assemblage as fields to explore.  “With photography, I don’t treasure the technical aspects of taking a photograph. For me, a photo is about the emotional response evoked, not the science and technology of the camera. I seek a photo that’s interesting, pleasing, colorful, or one that makes a statement; one that has visual or emotional impact. Serendipity is defined as “finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for. If there were to be a school of art or photography called “Serendipity,” that’s where I would belong.” A perceptive quote comes from Walker Evans, famed photographer and documenter of the Great Depression Era: ‘… the photographer is a joyous sensualist, for the simple reason that the eye traffics in feelings, not thoughts.’ To me, that is the essence of abstract art.” And hence the title of his exhibit, Serendipity: What Eye Saw. 

Ron states that often the concept for an art project or a photo finds him … instead of him pursuing a specific goal. Ninety-nine percent of the time, photography consists of snapshots documenting a split second in time. One percent of the time, a photograph is a work of art and that, for Ron, is serendipity. Since childhood, Ron has had a fascination and a love affair with bright colors … oranges and greens, yellows and blues, reds, purples, pinks, and neons. “They always make me happy and can make any day a Mexican fiesta, a Chinese New Year!”  

Ron Cook’s photography and art have been shown at Dansville ArtWorks, The Village Gallery in Caledonia, NY, the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts’ gallery in Mount Morris, the Pocono Valley Resort, Gallery Q in Rochester, NY, and the Rochester Contemporary Art Center. Ron has also been a juror and curator of art shows, and occasionally writes articles on the arts, artists, and community. Visit https://roncookphotos.picfair.com for more about Ron and his work.

Dansville ArtWorks is a nonprofit arts organization whose mission is to cultivate and enhance the visual, performing and literary arts opportunities in the greater Dansville community. Learn more at dansvilleartworks.com, Facebook.com/DansvilleArtWorks, and Instagram.com/DansvilleArtWorks. By email: dansvilleartworks@gmail.com .