PeterboroughLibrary presents ‘Two Artists & Four Hands’

The next exhibition in the Peterborough Town Library Community Art Gallery will be “Two Artists & Four Hands: Robert Hauser & Jane E. Simpson.”

The show will be on display Friday, June 7, through Friday, July 26. The opening reception will be held on First Friday, June 7, from 5 to 7 p.m. During the reception, both artists will be present to discuss their work. Hauser will also give a presentation on his work on Wednesday, July 10, at 6 p.m. in the library’s 1833 Room.

“It makes so much sense to display their artwork together,” stated Public Services Librarian Aimee LaRue, “Hauser and Simpson are both assemblage artists; they work with found or collected objects, altering and curating them so that they tell a story.”

Hauser approaches his artwork like a collection, calling it similar to “how objects were collected for study and exhibition within rooms as cabinets of curiosities that were precursors to the development of museums.” Simpson describes her work as “see(ing) stories in imperfection and deterioration… the subtle details of things inspire me.”

“Their thinking and creative processes go hand in hand, collecting and curating a grouping of objects that start to tell a story and then altering them or displaying them in a specific way to make them tell a new story,” stated LaRue, “I’m really excited to see how it all comes together in the library’s gallery space.”

Hauser is a graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Tufts University. He is a member of Monadnock Art and attended the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and the Nantucket School of Arts & Crafts. His most recent exhibitions have been at The Dublin School’s Putnam Gallery and the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center.

Simpson graduated from Keene State College and is a three-time I-Park Foundation fellow as well as a state-juried member of the League of NH Craftsmen. She has birthed one daughter, a custom picture-framing business and the Monadnock Art Open Studio Tour. 

Peterborough Town Library is at 2 Concord Street in Peterborough and is open Monday to Saturday. For information on this program or any library services, visit peterboroughtownlibrary.org or call 603-924-8040.