Roslyn Rose – “Hoboken from Afar”

September 15 – November 4, 2012.

Sometimes you have to get away—far away—to see your hometown from a fresh perspective. Or, you can stop by the Hoboken Museum’s Upper Gallery this September to see Hoboken From Afar: Photomontages by Roslyn Rose.

A New Jersey native and longtime Hoboken resident, Rose credits her travels abroad for her latest series of photo montages. The foregrounds of her artworks include slides, photos, and found pictures that she collected while traveling in Europe, which are digitally superimposed upon images she’s taken of familiar Hoboken sights.

Click here to see a virtual gallery of the exhibit.

The resulting depictions, about a dozen of which will be on display from Sept. 15 through Nov. 4, convey the odd sensation of looking through foreign windows and doors onto familiar vistas of home.

“During my European travels, I always seemed to meet someone who had either visited Hoboken, had a relative living in Hoboken, or who knew of Hoboken’s history, which led to many delightful conversations about my adopted city in far away places,” she says. “By inserting my Hoboken photographs within images of foreign windows, doorways or archways, I have combined travel memories with local scenes.”

The images can evoke the mixed feelings that many of us experience while traveling—the thrill of new experiences with occasional pangs of homesickness. Rose hopes visitors to the exhibit will think about their own favorite Hoboken vistas. Meet the artist at the free opening reception for the show from 2 – 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15. She returns to give a talk about her work on Sunday, Nov. 4 at 4 pm.

An artist since early childhood, Rose was a nationally recognized etcher and printmaker before becoming intrigued with the medium of computer-manipulated montages. Although photography is now her main focus, she considers herself a fine artist using the medium to create collages. See more of her work and peruse her extensive resume of exhibitions and affiliations at roslynrose.com.

The exhibit is supported by a block grant from the State/County Partnership program for the Arts, administered by the Hudson County Division of Cultural and Heritage Affairs.