No doubt about it — these are difficult times in which to begin any large building project. And for non-profits that rely on fundraising to finance their efforts, times are doubly tough.

It’s a good time to re-prioritize — and that’s exactly what the Parrish Art Museum has done in recent months.

Having long outgrown their current space in Southampton Village, which was built in 1890, the Parrish purchased 14 acres in Water Mill next to Duck Walk Vineyards a few years back with an eye toward building a new facility. The original plan for the museum, designed by Herzog & de Meuron architects, called for a series of inter-connected buildings — replicas of the studios and working spaces of some of the East End’s most famous artists – both past and present.

But given the economic climate, the museum has decided to re-visit its original concept and allow for an economy of scale which, Parrish director Terrie Sultan explains, will not only give the museum the space it needs, but allow construction to begin sooner, rather than later.

“When I came to the museum a year-and-a-half ago, we had a good discussion on proceeding with our capital project,” says Sultan. “We have a reasonable board and although we had raised a good amount of money, we agreed we wanted 80 percent in hand before we began the project, which has stood us in good stead. We didn’t have 80 percent but quite a lot and we knew we had to wait until we proceeded.”

Then the economy went south and Sultan and the board realized that raising the rest of the money needed for the original design was going to be extremely challenging in the current climate.

“The board acted responsibly and that’s how we got to this point,” says Sultan. “We knew we could not push forward with this. We based it on what we had and what we could raise.”

So Sultan and the board went back to Herzog & de Meuron.

 “It all happened very fast,” admits Sultan. “In March, the board and I met with the architect to let him know the economic climate was making it impossible to move forward with the original plan. We desperately need a new building and something we can afford to build. What can we do? Do you want to work with us to find a solution to this problem?”

Herzog & de Meuron, notes Sultan gave their response in the form of an enthusiastic, “Yes.”

Sultan points out, the redesign is largely a matter of economics as well as flexibility. While the original plan called for some 65 exterior walls, the new design is a single building based on 1,000 square foot grids with just four exterior walls. Structured like a long twin barn with two peaked roofs, the building is 600 feet long and 91 feet wide. It features a central spine which will act as a corridor and provide cross over points from one side of the building to the other.

“There’s nothing in this building except useable space. It’s a very streamlined process and a building that is more flexible, in truth, more sustainable and far more economically sensible,” notes Sultan who stresses though the design of the building has changed, the concept behind it has not.

“We didn’t abandon the artist’s studio concept,” explains Sultan. “Two things about the original concept were the desire for northern light and the allusion to artists in their studio. The way it was to be created the first time is different now, but the core concept and values are still in the plan. We’re alluding to the experience, rather than the space itself.”

“We’re not going to emulate or create spaces that are very specifically certain studios,” she adds.  “We’re looking more for the experience. A lot of that has to do with the north facing skylights and high ceilings and light washed walls. Instead of being so specific about any one person’s studio, this is a grand gesture about what the experience of being in that studio is like.”

One of the key features of the new plan that Sultan is particularly excited about is the large porch that will wrap around the entire building and a covered terrace at the western end that can be used to host outdoor performances.

“It’s an aspect of being inside and outside at the same time and the vernacular architecture of the East End,” says Sultan. “It’s a place to sit outside the building and a real smart way of incorporating the idea of a breezeway and open spaces you often see in the houses out here. You can take a sketch pad out there and draw and get a snack at the café.”

The new design comes in at around 37,000 square feet, slightly less, says Sultan, than that of the phase I design, but with much more functional space. Perhaps the biggest difference between the two designs, however, is the price tag.

 “The original plan was a total of $80 million — now we’re looking at $20 or $25 million,” says Sultan. “And we do have 80 percent — which means we can push forward.”

The Parrish is now beginning the permitting process and hopes to get the project underway in the near future. Sultan feels that by taking into account both economic and environmental efficiencies, the new plan represents the future of museum design.

 “You can do a beautiful and architecturally significant project for that budget,” she says. “The architects have proved it. I think it’s the new paradigm for museum architecture in the foreseeable future.”

“There are also things about the economic downturn that we’re hoping to take advantage of,” adds Sultan. “Cost of materials has gone down. We also want this community back to work — our artisans, contractors, steel and concrete people. We’re going to move as fast as we can. We still have some money to raise and want this to feel like a community project.”

The community is invited to two upcoming sneak peak previews of the design presented by Terrie Sultan and Philip Schmerbeck of Herzog & de Meuron. The first is Wednesday, September 9 at 5:30 p.m. and the second will be offered on Saturday, September 12 at 10:30 a.m.  The presentations will be held in the Parrish Art Museum Concert Hall, 25 Jobs Lane, Southampton. To reserve a seat, call Becky Zaloga at 283-2118, ext. 12.

“Landscape Pleasures,” the Parrish Art Museum’s annual two-day horticulture event and fund-raiser, will explore the use of color in the garden, fashion and the world around you. Scheduled for Saturday, June 13, and Sunday, June 14, the program will kick off with a morning symposium, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., featuring a conversation between renowned designers Isaac Mizrahi and Charlotte Moss, as well as talks by landscape historian and author Judith B. Tankard and garden designer Dan Pearson.

Self-guided tours of six private Southampton village gardens — those of Bruce and Maria Bockmann, Mr. and Mrs. Brownlee Currey, Juergen and Anke Friedrich, Parker and Gail Gilbert, David and Simone Levinson, and Betty and Virgil Sherrill—will round out the program on Sunday.

Judith Tankard will start off the symposium with a lecture on the color theories of influential female gardeners including Gertrude Jekyll, Beatrix Farrand and Ellen Biddle Shipman. Tankard received her M.A. in art history from New York University and has been teaching at the Landscape Institute, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University since 1987.

Dan Pearson will discuss the importance of color in his extensive garden designs, which include an Italian garden where white is the predominant color, and his own London garden. One of Britain’s foremost garden experts, Pearson has created and starred in several popular British television series on gardening. He is on the editorial board of Gardens Illustrated magazine and is a weekly gardening columnist for The Observer.

Keynote Speaker Isaac Mizrahi will take the stage with celebrated interior designer Charlotte Moss for a lively conversation about color. A leader in the fashion business for almost twenty years, Isaac Mizrahi is Creative Director for the Liz Claiborne brand, has been awarded four CFDA awards, written the book “How to Have Style,” created costumes for movies, theater, dance, and opera. A Parrish trustee since 2002 and co-chair of Landscape Pleasures, Charlotte Moss is founder of Charlotte Moss Interior Design, the author of six books, and the designer of houses throughout the United States and Canada. Her design work has been featured in numerous publications.

Sag Harbor

Candidates Lobby for Support

With elections for Sag Harbor Village mayor just around the corner, on Tuesday, June 16, this week candidates Michael Bromberg, Brian Gilbride and Jim Henry worked the campaign trail, visiting constituent groups, talking to residents, announcing endorsements and hosting a press conference in an effort to take the helm of Sag Harbor’s Board of Trustees.

Bromberg, the current chairman of the zoning board of appeals, was a guest at Friday’s Sag Harbor Citizens Advisory Committee meeting, talking to the group about some of the issues he sees the village coming in the next two years.

Bromberg sees himself as representative of both the old and new Sag Harbor, and said he would like to see a village government elected that is interested in reaching out to the myriad of people in Sag Harbor who can aid government in accomplishing their goals. He said he was also concerned that an affordable housing trust, created during the approval process for luxury condos at the former Bulova Watchcase Factory, had yet to get off the ground, something he would like to see changed. Bromberg has also suggested the village could consider building both additional parking and affordable housing over the current village lot behind Main Street.

On Saturday morning, with roughly half a dozen residents in attendance, Henry threw a press conference at Havens Beach, stating a need for a village government willing to address a storm water runoff issue at the bathing beach and calling for the creation of a dog park. Henry, an attorney and economist, said while village officials “may be proud of a tight budget” projects like the $500,000 Cashin plan, proposed years ago to create a bio-filtration system for the Havens Beach drainage ditch have gone unfunded.

Henry also announced the endorsement of Congressman Tim Bishop, who on Tuesday withdrew his endorsement.

“As a Southampton Village resident, I understand that village politics occupy a special place, free of outside interests,” said Bishop in a statement. “As a rule, I do not insert myself into village politics. I recently made a snap decision and broke that longstanding rule. Upon reflection and with apologies, I withdraw any endorsements I have made in village races and I look forward to working with Sag Harbor’s next mayor.”

On Tuesday, Henry did pick up the endorsement of Southampton Village Mayor Mark Epley, who called Henry a “person who puts community first and exhibits sound decision making.”

On Monday, Brian Gilbride said he had been sticking to a basic campaign strategy of knocking on doors and visiting with residents to share his goals for the village, which center around maintaining a fiscally conservative budget, he said. In addition to residents, Gilbride hoped to reach out to members of the business community as well as local not-for-profits.
Sag Harbor

Column Award
A column by Karl Grossman, published in the Sag Harbor Express last June, was chosen last week in the annual competition of the Press Club of Long Island as the best general interest column published in a weekly newspaper on Long Island in 2008.

The column — titled “Legally Corrupt” — concerned the selection of “official” county newspapers. It noted how each year the Suffolk County Legislature — and because of New York State law, governing bodies throughout the state — pick two “official” newspapers, one “representing the principles of the Democratic Party,” the other “representing the principles of the Republican Party.” These are then paid to publish legal advertising.

This “selection explicitly based on politics is a throwback to an era in American journalism when newspapers were avidly partisan, indeed many declared that in their names,” the column noted. It pointed to such “newspapers (still) called the Tallahassee Democrat (in Florida), Democrat and Chronicle (in upstate Rochester), Star-Democrat (in Easton, Maryland), The Republican (in Springfield, Massachusetts).”

It continued: “Change came to journalism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as many and then most newspapers sought to report the news objectively.”

The column stated that this selection of “official” newspapers “based on their ‘representing the principles’ of the major parties is antiquated—and corrupting to journalism.” It questioned whether a paper “would get such a designation if it offended” the politicians who do the choosing and declared: “Independent journalism is sacrificed by this system.”

In an acceptance speech upon receiving the award Thursday in Woodbury, Grossman, professor of journalism at the State University of New York College at Old Westbury, said the system should be changed.

Sagaponack

Road Repairs
After years of drainage issues, Sagg Dune Court is creeping into a disheveled state, said members of the Sagaponack Village Board of Trustees, and is in need of repair. Mayor Don Louchheim reported driving on the road last week and said it was in a “horrendous” condition. However, Louchheim added that the village wasn’t looking to invest in a major road construction project, but did want to solve the underlying drainage issues at the site. Drew Bennett, a consulting engineer for the village, presented the board with three separate plans varying in cost and construction intensity. Bennett also noted that only 26 percent of the road was in fair condition, with the rest of it being in poor to very poor condition.

Trustee Lisa Duryea Thayer suggested the board explore going out for a bond for general road construction throughout the town not just at Sagg Dune Court.

“We could get some kind of statement from [village attorney] Anthony Tohill on if we can acquire performance bonds for not just here but for the whole village,” said Louchheim.

East Hampton

Muskets, Militia and More

History lovers of all ages are invited to experience an historic reenactment with the 3rd New York Regiment or the Brigade of the American Revolution and revolutionary encampment at Mulford Farm on James Lane in East Hampton Village.

Visitors will have the chance to meet the “Colonial Kids” between 10 a.m. and Noon, try on 18th century costumes, take part in butter-churning and play colonial games.

Free, half-hour guided tours of the Mulford Farm House restoration will be given at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and will offer clues to the 350-year history of the house. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and again between 3 and 5 p.m., costumed interpreters will demonstrate traditional methods of spinning yarn with a drop spindle, weaving on the historic barn beam loom and basket making using age-old techniques.

The farm will reopen for a candlelight tour of the Revolutionary encampment at 7:30 p.m., and contra dance and refreshments in the colonial barn. Music will be provided by “Dance All Night.” The group features Larry Moser on hammered dulcimer, Mary Nagin and Jack Dillon on fiddle, and dance caller Chart Guthrie. All are members of the Long Island Traditional Music Association and have a wide repertoire of fun and easy dances for all ages.

For more information, please call 324-6850.

Shinnecock

D.C. Meeting

Southampton Town Supervisor Linda Kabot and leaders of the Shinnecock Indian Nation met in Washington, D.C., on June 3 with representatives from the Office of Federal Acknowledgment (OFA) to participate in the process to secure recognition from the federal government for the tribe. The session was an integral part of the time line agreed to in a court-ordered settlement arising from litigation the tribe launched against the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The forum was hosted by the Department of the Interior in order to provide an opportunity for the Shinnecocks and other interested parties to present additional background on the documents submitted in response to OFA’s March 16 letter to the Shinnecocks. The letter, which was circulated to interested parties, identified records known to OFA that were not part of the information submitted with the Shinnecock petition. The petition seeking federal acknowledgment comprises over 500 pages, with 40,000 pages of additional documentation.

The settlement reached between the Shinnecocks and the federal government provides for expeditious review of the tribe’s original petition and its more recent submissions, as well as that provided by the interested parties. OFA sought materials from Southampton Town and New York State that were used in the earlier lawsuit over the Westwoods property, a 79-acre parcel in Hampton Bays which the tribe had began clearing for a casino. Additional records sought included expert reports from New York State’s genealogical researchers and a trove of historical documents from town clerk Sundy Schermeyer containing Indian lands, deeds and statistics.

Since first applying for recognition in 1978 and more formally in 1998, the Shinnecocks have litigated over what the tribe has called the Bureau of Indian Affairs “unreasonable delay.” With the agreement reached May 26 that led to the June 3 gathering, the Department of Interior must issue a preliminary decision on recognition by December 15.

“As town supervisor, I attended in order to represent the town board and show our support for the settlement with the Department of Interior, and to obtain a better understanding of the rigorous standards the Shinnecocks must meet to become federally acknowledged,” said Kabot, who was accompanied by the town’s legal adviser, Michael Cohen.

The meeting was moderated by OFA Specialist George Roth and attended by representatives of the U.S. Solicitor and U.S. Attorney General. Several representatives of the Shinnecock Indian Nation were also present, including Tribal Trustees Randall King, Gordell Wright and Frederick Bess, as well as their attorneys and research team.

Another purpose of the meeting was for federal researchers to explain the process, methodology, and general status of evaluating a petition. The OFA research team is comprised of historian Francis Flavin, anthropologist Holly Reckord and genealogist Alycon Pierce. There are seven mandatory criteria that must be met under federal regulations to establish that an American Indian group exists as a tribe. Questions posed to the Shinnecocks focused on membership lists, their functioning as a single autonomous political entity, while explaining how evidence is reviewed to determine parentage and descent to establish family histories.

“The Town of Southampton appreciates that the OFA will be completing a thorough, objective review of current and historic documents,” said Kabot. “We have fully cooperated with the requests of OFA for town documents. The Town of Southampton did not engage any researchers as part of this federal acknowledgment process sought by the Shinnecocks, nor do we intend to do so, and therefore we did not pose any questions on the submissions made by the Shinnecocks. Our relationship with the Shinnecocks is not an adversarial one. We are friends and neighbors.”

According to Kabot, Shinnecock Tribal Chairman Randall King requested an opportunity to convey remarks and “spoke eloquently about the need for the federal government to humanize the process, rather than making repeated requests for more documentation.” She also described the meeting as “exciting and interesting, but highly technical,” as it focused on federal criteria mandating extensive research, a peer review process and lengthy comment periods to raise inquiries and objections.

“At the end of the day, the Shinnecocks have long-awaited a decision on federal recognition,” concluded Kabot. “This meeting brings them one step closer to realizing their vision of sustaining their culture and enhancing the prosperity of their people.”

By Marianna Levine

Terrie Sultan, the director of the Parrish Art Museum, decided to do something a little different with the museum’s up-coming show, “Mixed Greens: Artists Choose Artists on the East End” which opens with a reception on Saturday April 18 at 6 p.m. Instead of presenting a traditional juried art show she decided to have local artists choose one artist each to co-exhibit with at the Parrish. The end result is a show that is not thematic but rather a mixture of artists working in a variety of media united only by their choice of location, hence the title “Mixed Greens.”

Sultan explains, “I generally don’t like to title exhibits, but I considered how we could describe putting a variety of things together in one show, and also wanted to use the color green since it is my understanding that green is one of the most difficult colors to work with, and I wanted to allude to the difficulty of working and living as an artist.”

The idea of having local artists handpick another perhaps less well-known artist to pair their work with was inspired by a comment Sultan heard artist April Gornik make about how she enjoys the artistic community on the East End, because people have the time and space to work and play together. Sultan tried to think of a way the Parrish could foster that community and facilitate introductions among artists who lived here. In the end, the Parrish decided to put out an open call for submissions from local artists and received over 260 responses. They then asked nine established East End artists to review all of the work.

Sag Harbor resident and artist, Gornik, turned out to be one of the jurors for the exhibit. Having to choose from the large number of submissions turned out to be a daunting task, she explained, but she was extremely happy to be exposed to so much excellent work. “It increased my admiration for the wealth of talent that’s out here.”

Gornik ended up selecting the work of Lucy Winton, in part because she felt Winton’s work hadn’t been given a lot of exposure so far, stating, “The great potential of a show like this is to introduce people to art they might otherwise not be aware of.” However, she also chose Winton’s work, which is primarily figurative, because she was really taken with her use of what Gornik refers to as an “animal consciousness.”

Donald Sultan, another Sag Harbor resident and artist, agrees that being a juror for this show was tough as the amount and quality of the work was so high. He decided to pick Steve Laub, an artist who currently works with shoes and teaches at Rutgers University. Like Gornik he ended up choosing an artist whom he felt could use a little more exposure.  However, Sultan stresses ultimately he went with the work he found the most interesting.

Donald Sultan, who is Terrie Sultan’s brother, enjoyed the selection process stating, “This type of process is more inclusive. It’s a good way for museums not to create hostility but rather to create inclusivity by allowing artists to be more involved in the (selection) process.”

Noyac resident and artist Kevin Teare was one of the nine artists selected to exhibit. He is showing a piece entitled “The Beatles Will Save Us” which is one of several pieces he has created around the concept of the Beatles. Teare explains a lot of his work is about cultural obsessions and clearly the Beatles are the ultimate “cultural Rosetta stone.” He also says he felt drawn to the Beatles as a young student in the 60s because “they were an artier group, but unfortunately a lot of the art related to the Beatles in the past has been pretty bad.”

His work was selected by artist John Torreano. Teare wasn’t familiar with Torreano prior to this endeavor and enjoyed the experience of meeting and working with him on “Mixed Greens.” As a matter of fact, Teare explained that they were selecting the work to be hung in the show together, and trying to relate it to each other’s pieces with the assistance of the show’s curator, Alicia Longwell.

All of the artists are looking forward to the opening party this Saturday (which is open to the public), as they’ll have a chance to see all the work hanging together as well as have a chance to hang out with one another. Three of the jurors will join the three artists they selected in a panel discussion at 6 p.m., followed by a performance by the experimental punk band the xframes. Peter Dayton, one of the artists selected to exhibit, is actually in the band along with artist Jameson Ellis, and Stan Stokowski.

Terrie Sultan, who took over as director of the Parrish Art Museum a year ago says, “I’m looking forward to the show as I’m new out here and I was amazed at the high level of art created in the area. I hope we’ll do this type of show again. Maybe we’ll do it in another three or four years, but I’m still waiting to hear from everyone involved if they liked this process. So we’ll see.”

 “Mixed Greens” will exhibit the works of John Alexander, Michael Combs, Mary Heilmann, Richard Kalina, Michelle Stuart, Joe Zucker, Jessica Benjamin, Randall Rosenthal, Frazer P. Doughterty, Jody Pinto, Ellen Wiener, as well as the artists mentioned above.

 

About 10 years ago, Terrie Sultan, Director of the Parrish Art Museum, read a Critical Inquiry article by philosopher Thomas Dumm. The essay was entitled “Resignation” and in it, Dumm explored the notion of human disappointment, which he noted was followed by resignation — both figuratively and literally — and reconstruction of a new world view.

“It was 1998 and it resonated,” recalls Sultan. “Everywhere I turned, there were artists exploring this passage. It seemed like an interesting juncture between real life and art.”

Sultan, who came to the Parrish last spring from the Blaffer Gallery at the University of Houston, was so intrigued by the concept of disappointment, followed by resignation and defiant optimism that she began organizing an exhibition on the theme. 

“I was seeing this work and feeling it was speaking to me in this way. I had collected piles of material from works I had seen leading me in that direction,” says Sultan who had intended to create an exhibition based on the theme titled “Disappointment and Resignation.”

“But then after 9/11, I thought I don’t want to stay so deeply involved,” say Sultan. “Even though the end result is positive, it’s such a long haul from where we were that I put it away.” 

It was David Pagel, a professor of art at Claremont Graduate University and an adjunct curator at the Blaffer, who encouraged Sultan to revisit the material.

“He said, ‘I think you should bring ‘Disappointment and Resignation’ back, but I think we need to reframe the argument and get rid of the title and focus on who these artists are and what they do,’” recalls Sultan. “He said, ‘It seems to me they are a bunch of artists who are really romantics, but are just damaged.”

And with that, an exhibition was born. 

This Saturday, February 7, the Parrish opens “Damaged Romanticism: A Mirror of Modern Emotion” with a 6 p.m. talk by Sultan, cocurator of the exhibition. The show, which runs through April 12, features a range of representational art by 15 contemporary artists and it is running concurrently at the Grey Art Gallery in New York City (where it opened on January 13).

“Damaged Romanticism” comes to the Parrish and the Grey from the Blaffer Gallery where it was on view this fall. Work by all 15 artists will be on view in Southampton and New York, though the art will be different in each. Sultan hopes viewers will take the opportunity to visit both venues to see the full body of work in “Damaged Romanticism.”

Artists whose work is included in the exhibition are Richard Billingham, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Edward Burtynsky, Sophie Calle, Petah Coyne, Angelo Filomeno, Jesper Just, Mary McCleary, Florian Maier-Aichen, Wangechi Mutu, Julia Oschatz, Anneè Olofsson, David Schnell and Ryan Taber/Cheyenne Weaver. 

Sultan notes that despite their varied mediums, in their work, each of these artists expresses the idea of some sort of love and loss, followed by the rebuilding of a new reality. 

“Any kind of love lost is addressed,” says Sultan. “Burtynsky, Schnell, Aichen and Oschatz are looking at altered landscapes and post apocalyptic views. Jesper Just and Anneè Olofsson deal with interpersonal relationships. It covers pretty much all the areas where an emotional interaction has taken place, been processed and assimilated.”

“All these artists are influenced by classical romanticism,” she says. “I do think there’s a sense of a romantic ideal that has been altered.” 

While one would think that this notion of realignment after disappointment and loss is a universal theme, Sultan has found that there are artists from certain parts of the world who tend to visit it more often in their work.

“In a funny way, this attitude about disappointment and resignation is very Anglo-Saxon,” notes Sultan. “There’s some Japanese artists skirting the edges of this idea, but the artists are largely from northern Europe or Scandinavia.”

Despite the variety of themes and styles represented by the individual artists in this show, Sultan explains that there is a definitive connection between them. When the art is seen in the context of an entire exhibit, she finds that the depth of experience can be far richer than if the work of just one artist is considered.

“One thing about group exhibitions, it’s not just 15 artists, but artists whose work speaks to each other,” notes Sultan. “That’s part of the job of a curator. I had files and files of artists who spoke to me from the realm of damaged romantic. When you put them together you see how some artists form attachments.”

“The decision making is not just about individual artists but how the total group works together to inform and enhance each other.”

“Damaged Romanticism: A Mirror of Modern Emotion” is cocurated by Terrie Sultan, David Pagel, Assistant Professor of Art Theory and History at Claremont Graduate University, and Colin Gardner, professor of Critical Theory and Integrative Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Parrish Art Museum is located at 25 Job’s Lane, Southampton. For more information, call 283-2118.

Above: Mary McCleary’s “9.81 Meters Per Second Per Second,” 2006, mixed media collage on paper, 45” x 71.5.” Private Collection, Houston

 

 

 

Charles Cowles will tell you that he didn’t intentionally set out to amass a collection that reflects the evolution of photography through the 20^th century. Nor did he focus on specific themes when it came to deciding what to add to his collection over the years. He just buys what he likes and always has.

And what he likes has turned out to be some of the most iconic images by some of the most renowned photographers of the past 100 years.

“I have about 1,000 pictures in my collection,” says Cowles who owns photographs by Cindy Sherman, Diane Arbus, Henri Cartier- Bresson, Joel-Peter Witkin, Andres Serrano, Andy Warhol and Robert Mapplethorpe, among others.

Cowles is the stepson of Gardner “Mike” Cowles, co-founder of Look magazine and he cut his teeth at the tender age of 14 in the photo department at the magazine.

“My first summer job was in the editorial department doing photo archiving,” recalls Cowles. “There was a Sam Shaw photo of Marilyn Monroe on a park bench. An editor plopped it down on my desk and said, ‘Who’s that couple on the bench with her?’”

After a wild goose chase and dropped hints from doormen on the Upper East Side, though Cowles got tantalizingly close to the answer, in the end, the mystery couple remained a mystery and the photo did not run. But little could Cowles have known at the time that his first foray into the world of photography would grow into a life long interest in the medium at a time when photography itself was coming of age, turning from fad into art form.

On September 21, the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton opened “Modern Photographs: The Machine, the Body and the City — Selections from the Charles Cowles Collection.” The show was organized by the Miami Art Museum and is guest curated by Andy Grundberg. It runs through November 30, and on view are 200 photographs from Cowles private collection. The images are a study in the growth of photography in the 20^th century and reflect the three prominent themes of the show’s title — the metropolis, modern machinery and the human figure. Also on view are photographic portraits of 20^th century artists including Jackson Pollock, Henri Matisse, Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg.

One hundred and one of the images on view in the show are gifts Cowles has promised to the Miami Art Museum. The additional 100 works on view were chosen personally by Cowles and Parrish Art Museum Director Terrie Sultan. Several of them will join the permanent collection of the Parrish — Cowles has promised to give 50 photographs to the museum. He explains why he has chosen to make the gifts to the two museums.

“I grew up in Miami and have been coming here since 1959,” says Cowles. “I love both communities. Interestingly, both are about to build new museums using the same architect — Herzog & de Meuron — and adding to their collection.”

“That was part of the reason I gave to the Miami Art Museum and to The Parrish. In both cases, I said, ‘You choose what you want — one photograph by each person.’ Terrie will get 50 images by 50 photographers.”

One of Cowles’ first major acquisitions as a collector was a circa late 1920s Walker Evans photo of truckers moving a sign that reads “Damaged.”

“I didn’t buy it because it was Walker Evans, but because of the words,” explains Cowles. “My friend Ed Ruscha, had used the same word in his work.”

“It’s very random,” adds Cowles in explaining how he decides what to buy. “I see something I like, I get it. In some instances, I like the work. Or it may be by a well known photographer, but it’s not his most famous image.”

After he finished college at Stanford University in 1963, Cowles took over Artforum magazine which he ran for 10 years. A stint as the first curator of modern art at the Seattle Art museum followed. Then, in 1980, Cowles opened the Charles Cowles Gallery in New York City, which he continues to direct.

With 1,000 photographs in his collection, displaying them all in his home simultaneously is not an option. So Cowles has created a gallery of sorts, which gives him an opportunity to view them on a rotating basis.

“In 1990, I moved to a loft in Soho,” he explains. “One wall is 80 feet long. I hang the photographs salon style — no more than three high — and change them twice a year. I’ve gotten a lot of fun out that.”

Likewise, the show at the Parrish is also displayed salon style. The walls are lined with photographs organized by theme and composition. With so many images, trying to sort out what should go where can be an art form in itself.

“I’ve been hanging around and helping with the installation,” said Cowles. “It’s fabulous get to see my old friends again and decide  what goes where. You start by arranging them in alphabetical order and then move onto themes — ‘Now we need a group of fashion…swimmers…boys getting in trouble…the big picture to get the big view.’”

While he possesses a great many important images from the 20^th century, Cowles confesses that he has not been inspired to add other centuries to his collection.

“I’ve lost interest in 19^th century photography and can’t get excited about much in the 21^st,” he says.

And if you ask Cowles which of his 1,000 photographs he likes best, he’s not likely to answer.

“I don’t think I can say which is my favorite. You get yourself in trouble that way,” says Cowles who has ultimately found that the key to collecting has been to not take it all too seriously.

“It’s been a lot of fun for me over the years. It’s all about having a good time.”

The Parrish Art Museum is located at 25 Job’s Lane, Southampton. On Saturday, October 11, 2008 the museum hosts “Collecting with Charles Cowles” at 6 p.m. Cowles will share personal recollections and observations of photography’s struggle for acceptance as art and its eventual triumph. For more information, call 283-2118.