Artist to Artist examines the intertwining and constantly growing branches of influence across generations of artists. The curators seek to conjure a portrait of artists -past, present and future - who have been significantly shaped by the relationship of professor and student. This exhibit promises to be dense, overlapping and unfinished, but it will offer a glimpse at the crystalline spiderweb of influence that has come to characterize the excellence of the Western New York art community.

Artist to Artist is taking place in concurrently with Alberto Rey’s own Bagmati River Art Project,which includes an exhibit of the artist’s work in Nepal, that is set to open November 20, 2016. The Bagmati River Art Project grew out of Rey’s solo exhibit from the Burchfield Penney Art Center in 2014, and seeks to highlight the importance of the Bagmati River, the causes for its pollution, and plans to improve the condition of the river.

In the spirit of Charles Burchfield’s long romance with nature, and in support of Rey’s ecological activism, The Benjaman Gallery is pleased to contribute 10% of all sales from this exhibit toward the realization of the Bagmati River Art Project beyond its initial exhibit in Kathmandu. This contribution is being offered in the hope that art and activism can be wed toward greater ecological sensitivity and spur forth a new generation of both artists and activists.