Meredeth Turshen – “New Views of Old Hoboken”

January 5 - February 9.

The Museum’s Upper Gallery space opens 2020 with an exhibition of works by artist, teacher and writer Meredeth Turshen. All are invited to a free opening reception on Jan. 5 from 2 – 5 pm. The exhibition will remain on view through Feb. 9.

Turshen has lived in Hoboken and taught at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, for more than 25 years. A member of the National Association of Women Artists, she has exhibited regularly in the New York metropolitan region, with Viridian Gallery in Chelsea, and with hob’art, an arts cooperative based in Hoboken. 

Describing her work, Turshen writes: “This exhibition presents a modernist’s interpretation of historical Hoboken. I was inspired by the 2008 postcard show, parts of which can be seen again in the main gallery of the Hoboken Historical Museum. From the catalog of the exhibit, I excerpted images of Hoboken landmarks and incorporated them in paper collages that are simultaneously representational and non-figurative. 

“Harbor scenes, the docks and piers, vistas of the Manhattan skyline, and the infrastructure that has made Hoboken such an excellent transportation hub are some of the sights that caught my imagination. The work is small (under 12 inches), in keeping with the original size of postcards. The collages reveal Hoboken’s past through the lens of a modern artist, giving once familiar scenes a new twist.”

Visitors will see the work arranged in groups of images by themes, she explains. “To the left are scenes of Hoboken’s famed transport nexus – the PATH, NJ Transit and ferry services that link New York to New Jersey. Next are the piers and docks, the focus of intense shipping activity. To the right of the column the scenes shift to the bars and restaurants that served a growing population of workers, visitors and residents. The exhibit ends with reflections of the skyline and city streets.”

As for her artistic inspiration, Turshen says, “Through my artwork, I reflect on natural landscapes and built environments, representing these ideas in figurative and abstract compositions. My art studies began at age ten at the Art Students League in New York with Saturday classes for children and continued, after majoring in studio art at Oberlin College, in workshops at Pratt, the Printmaking Council of NJ, the Rutgers Center for Innovative Printmaking, the CT Center for Graphic Arts, and elsewhere. For the past ten years I have been spending a month at Vermont Studio Center, a stimulating residency where artists meet and inspire one another. Some have asked how I combined a career in art with teaching and writing about social policy. Both are passions; one seems as necessary to my existence as the other.”

Listen to the artist explain her work in this brief video produced by Sarah Jackson.

Turshen extends special thanks to William H. Miller for his “On the Waterfront” (2005), to “Greetings from Hoboken” (compiled by Bob Foster and David Webster, edited by Melissa Abernathy, 2008), and to the Museum’s oral history chapbook, “The Hook: Recollections of Donald ‘Red’ Barrett” (2015), for their inspiring images.

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.