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Leather and Plastics explores the trajectory of industrialization in the Catskills—from its 19th-century origins in leather production to today’s global economy dominated by synthetic materials—and reflects on how shifts in materials and labor practices have reshaped commerce and daily life.

During the 1830s, the Catskills were a hub of industrial activity, with tanneries proliferating across the region to meet a large demand for leather goods. These goods, once handcrafted, were increasingly made in factories, marking a pivotal moment in the rise of mass production, factory labor, and global supply chains. This exhibition draws a line from that moment of industrial transformation to our present, where plastic has come to replace many traditional materials and where labor and production remain globalized and fragmented.

The exhibition features work by six contemporary artists: Em Rooney, Hugo Montoya, Amanda Pohan, Linnea Gad, Tony Bluestone and Catherine Telford-Keogh. Each artist engages the themes of materiality, labor, and production through a range of practices, offering viewers a meditation on what it means to make—and consume—in a post-industrial world. Download the Gallery Guide (PDF)

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