The public is welcome to meet the artists and to see their art and performances, as well as see selected works from the museum’s permanent collection, free of charge.

In the main gallery, and arriving from Indonesia, Dias Prabu will display his drawings and batik-dyed banners that update his country’s long, rich history of batik with his lively contemporary graphic style and imagery. As a special feature of this exhibition, a live performance will take place during the opening reception.

Music and performances by six other collaborators from his home country will make the event very lively. The musicians are well-known in Indonesia, and the whole group including Dias was able to travel to the Crary Art Gallery with special funding from their government. The performances begin by 3 p.m. Saturday, June 3.

“Mangaranto,” in the title of his exhibition, means “wandering” or “migration” in English. Mangaranto is a tradition of the Batak people from North Sumatra Indonesia who move from one place to another, or move from one island to another, to live and settle or seek a better life. This tradition has been passed down from generation to generation by emphasizing the passion to change for the better the fate of the place or country they will live in.

Dias Prabu in 2022 surrounded by his batiks.

“The drawings that I make on fabric using the batik technique, bring various things together that relate to each other,” Dias said. “These are the elements that I build into my batik works: pieces of dreams, live imaginations that are affiliated with socio-cultural patterns/movements, as well as the intersection of traditional and contemporary cultures. In this exhibition the works are not just images of tradition and culture, but also are a manifestation of acculturation through ethnic and digital music, combined with performance art, then collided thoroughly into one amalgamated show. Moreover, through my batik narratives, I want to evoke dimensions of past memories from audiences. I want to be a small link in every dream that has ever existed in their minds, sharing with them the rural atmosphere of the Batak lands, and how there is an element of togetherness in differences, touching on the Batak advice taken by the wanderers – things that have meaning in all lives.”

See more at www.16albermarle.com/dias-prabu.

“We displayed art from around the world before, notably during the three occasions we hosted the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society’s International Juried Exhibitions,” said Thomas Paquette, Crary Art Gallery exhibitions chair. “But this is a different sort of event, with our first Asian solo exhibition artist who happens to be bringing a troupe of musicians, performers, and videographers for the event.”

Warren resident Jessica Ellen Boice’s watercolor paintings depict botanical subjects and ordinary objects, while focusing on light and perspectives. Her exhibition, “Curious in Nature,” is in the museum’s south galleries and opens at the same time as Dias Prabu’s exhibition on June 3. Much of her subject matter is taken from her garden and yard, the supermarket, and regional farms and forests. From local fungi, flowers, and vegetation to household implements, she invites viewers to see these things through a curious observer’s eye.

A graduate of the State University at Fredonia and University at Buffalo, Boice holds degrees in English, reading and secondary education. In addition to her career in teaching, she has done illustrations for many publications and organizations, including Mothering Magazine; Vanguard Press in Burlington, Vermont; University of Vermont Medical School; and SUNY Fredonia Theater Department.

COPYRIGHT 2021 J.E.M. BOICE

“I am a ‘curious observer’ – and someone who has always been an artist, writer, maker, and duct-tape-and-chewing-gum kind of dilemma solver,” Boice said. “My husband and I moved to Warren three years ago, and I have been able to more fully pursue my creative interests since retiring from the workforce. Along with a background in illustration work; I have done pen and ink portraiture, as well as animals, watercolor depictions of nursery rhymes, clay sculpture, and silkscreen puppets. Now I am exploring the more fine art aspects of watercolor, where my style and interests lean to photo-realistic botanical subjects, animals, and nature-scapes. I like to portray my subject matter in a close-up and interesting perspective, to provide the viewer with new ways of seeing nature and everyday objects.”

The Crary Art Gallery is a non-profit private art museum located at Market Street and Sixth Avenue in historic downtown Warren. Hours are Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 6 and Sundays from noon to 4. Admission is free. For more information, visit craryartgallery.org.