Islip Art Museum • East Islip, New York • 19 September–18 November 2012
Occupying Potato: Cult of Potato was an international group exhibition curated by Jeffrey Allen Price at the Islip Art Museum. Bringing together artists from ten countries, the exhibition explored the potato as artistic medium, cultural symbol, historical artifact, political metaphor, and conceptual framework.
Drawing participants from the growing international network of artists associated with Think Potato and the Cult of Potato, the exhibition presented a remarkably diverse range of contemporary potato art. Paintings, sculptures, photographs, installations, videos, and conceptual works addressed themes including agriculture, labor, migration, memory, identity, humor, food culture, and the legacy of the Irish Potato Famine. Together, the works demonstrated the extraordinary breadth of artistic approaches that could emerge from a common thematic focus.
In many respects, Occupying Potato functioned as a manifesto for potato art. Rather than treating the potato merely as novelty or subject matter, the exhibition revealed its potential as a vehicle for historical inquiry, social commentary, personal narrative, material experimentation, and cultural reflection. The exhibition articulated one of the clearest statements to date of the possibilities and scope of the emerging field.
Presented concurrently with Unpacking My Potato Collection in the Historical Room and Archie Rand: Potato Prints in the Museum Store Gallery, Occupying Potato formed part of a larger museum-wide exploration of potato art, culture, collecting, and history. Together, the three exhibitions marked the first time in the museum’s history that all three exhibition spaces were united under a single curatorial theme and curator.
The exhibition received significant regional and national attention, including coverage in The New York Times, and remains one of the most important institutional exhibitions in the history of the Think Potato Institute.
Participating Artists & Collections
Fran Beallor
Michiel Brink
Martin Bromirski
Ginou Choueiri
Adrian Villa DaVila
Anna Alicja Feitzinger
Jean-Louis Gonterre
Joffe & Pye
Allan Innman
Lucy Kippin
Viviane Le Courtois
Andrzej Maciejewski
Paul McMahon
Mongobì
Ciprian Muresan
Eimear O’Connor
Rika Ohara
W. David Powell
Archie Rand and Jon Cone
Peter Root
Judith Samen
Italo Scanga
Salvatore Scarpitta
Ryan Seslow
Adam Taye
Brian Tolle
Uber Tuber
Chad Woody
Jim Kempner Fine Arts
Kenny Schachter
Bill and Katherine Scanga and the Italo Scanga Foundation
Exhibition Catalog
Exhibition Coverage
2012 — Three Exhibitions Elevate the Lowly Potato at the Islip Museum — The New York Times
2012 — How Long Island Became Potato Island — The New York Times
2012 — LITV (Long Island TV)
Coverage of Occupying Potato at the Islip Art Museum
2012 —Paean to the Potato — Newsday (2012) [PDF]
Explore Further
→ Unpacking My Potato Collection (Full Exhibition)
→ Archie Rand: Potato Prints
→ Cult of Potato
→ Occupying Potato: Cult of Potato 2012 (TPI Timeline)