The Heckscher Museum of Art is pleased to present Richard Gachot’s America.  This exhibition, on view now through November 23, 2014, celebrates the career of Richard Gachot, whose wry and witty sculptures delight viewers with their social commentary, humor, and imaginative re-use of everyday objects.

Richard Gachot’s America highlights the artist's exploration of themes intrinsic to America's identity, such as Uncle Sam and Miss Liberty, the cotton industry and chicken farming, suburban development, the energy crisis, and our democratic political system.

Although he studied art at Yale in the 1950s, Gachot did not begin his career as a sculptor until the mid-1970s. Easily mastering chisel and saw, the sculptor started out carving and painting figures and whirligigs, and soon began animating works that spring into action with the turn of a handle. Found objects, from gelatin molds to wire springs flattened on train tracks to pruning shears (gathered far and wide), are imaginatively transformed into art.

Richard Gachot's America is co-curated by Lisa Chalif, The Heckscher Museum of Art Curator, and Franklin Hill Perrell, Trustee of The Heckscher Museum and former Chief Curator at the Nassau County Museum of Art.  This exhibition celebrates Richard Gachot’s career and selection as the Museum’s Celebrate Achievement artist honoree for 2014.

A color catalogue accompanies the exhibition.

Also opening on August 16 is the Long Island Biennial 2014.  On view through November 30, 2014, this juried exhibition features work by artists and filmmakers of Nassau and Suffolk Counties.