(Morrisville, NY – Aug. 2015) The work of Morrisville State College Professor Timothy Gerken will be on display at the 39th Street Gallery at the Gateway Arts Center in Prince George County, Maryland Sept. 12 through Oct. 22.
The photography show, titled “Contradictions and that Line about Self-Destruction,” aims at trying to understand the way people organize or structure their lives.
Gerken, a writer and photographer, lives in Garrattsville, located in the Leatherstocking region of Central New York.
His photography is documentary, capturing solitary moments, structures, spaces, objects and their surroundings.
“Most of my work focuses on built culture and infrastructure, much of it built below or beyond our line of sight and much of it built for our cars. We often miss even the most obvious elements of infrastructure as we cruise across the country or head out to grab a gallon of milk,” Gerken said.
“Our cars encourage us to look toward our destination, our future. The familiar passes beyond the obvious and is forgotten. Spaces no longer economically viable (the past) decay around us as new structures get built beside them: an endless process. A photograph suspends that process,” he explained.
Gerken’s passion for art is further demonstrated on the MSC campus where he organizes and curates the college’s Martin Luther King Gallery Show, directs, organizes and coordinates the Butcher Library Gallery Art shows, and coordinates donations of artwork to the Morrisville College Foundation.
He also curated “Changing Landscape” at the Earlville Opera House and created “Floating,” a video installation on the Hamilton Green.
Gerken publishes regularly in magazines and small journals and has been a MacDowell Colony Fellow and Edward Albee Foundation Fellow. His work has also been on exhibit in New York City and Palm Springs.
Serving as MSC’s faculty senator, Gerken is also a member of the College Senate’s Executive Committee, serves as the SUNY University Faculty Senate (UFS) Technical-sector representative, is a member of the UFS Executive Committee, and is chair of the UFS Ad-hoc Committee on LGBT Matters in SUNY.
Gerken earned a Ph.D. in education, language, literacy and learning from Fordham University, an M.F.A. in poetry writing from Brooklyn College, an M.S. in secondary school certification from Southern Connecticut State University, and a B.S. in personnel management from Clarion University of Pennsylvania.
An opening reception for Gerken will be on Saturday Sept. 12, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the 39th Street Gallery, located five miles from downtown Washington, D.C.