December 2022 Exhibit

Window Hopping: Hudson Valley Storefronts

An encore exhibit by Joe Williams

Artist’s Statement

I am a landscape and street photographer who focuses on the visual impact of commerce, creativity, automobiles, and various human activities on the built environment, seeking to create images where color not only provides descriptive power but often functions as the subject itself. “Sign Language” is just one of my ongoing projects dealing with the artistic challenges presented by the visual clutter that surrounds us every day. These projects, which marked my return to serious photography after a long hiatus, all coincided with the emergence of the Covid pandemic, leading to my emphasis on car trips exploring the lower Hudson Valley.

Signs, of course, primarily serve a utilitarian function—building brands and businesses, identifying places, conveyinginformation, enforcing rules, promoting ideas. At the same time, their omnipresence in the American landscape has made them attractive to creative artists as well, including Walker Evans, Lee Friedlander, and many other noted photographers. Inspired by those artists, I have taken numerous day trips over the last few years, exploring signs and storefronts, monuments and sculptures, buildings and roads in Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, and other Mid-Hudson counties. With the pandemic now waning, I am expanding existing projects and pursuing new ones in more people-intensive venues, such as county fairs, amusement parks, zoos, aquariums, and the streets of Manhattan.

For a look at my other projects, please visit
my new website, www.joewilliamsphotographer.com. I was an Irvington resident from 1993 to 2008.

View a preview of the exhibit below, then visit the full gallery in person when it opens in December at the Irvington Public Library!

Be sure to check our event calendar or call to ensure the gallery is open at the time of your visit. The gallery room is also used for programming.

Art Exhibit Archive

To view previous virtual exhibits and exhibit previews, please see our Art Gallery Archive linked here.

Attention Artists

The library strongly encourages local artists to apply for exhibit space.

Please download a copy of our exhibition policy and an exhibit application, or call Rosemarie Gatzek, the Library’s Director, at (914) 591-7840. You may view the room floor plan here as well.

If you are interested in having a reception, you will need to contact Rosemarie Gatzek directly to schedule a date and time.

Attention non-profit groups

Our program room is available to non-profit community-based organizations for special programs. Rental fees, security deposits and proof of insurance are required. Read our Program Room Policy by clicking here. Download an application for use of the Program Room here. For more information call Rosemarie Gatzek, the Library’s Director, at (914) 591-7840.