Potato Project Room: Unpacking My Potato Collection
artifacts, ephemera and recent acquisitions
An Exhibition by Jeffrey Allen Price
The Islip Art Museum is proud to present a Historical Room exhibition of potato-themed artifacts acquired by artist and curator Jeffrey Allen Price over the last twenty years. His potato collection comprises over 5,000 objects from around the world in a mesmerizingly wide range of objects. This is an installation in flux as the artist unpacks, catalogs, displays and reorganizes different objects from the collection throughout the duration of the exhibition.
Installation view “Unpacking My Potato Collection,” 2012.
The exhibition itself is a work of art–placing antique prints, photos, tools and toys alongside works of art inspired by Price’s own collection. In a room too small to fully exhibit each and every artifact, much of the Potato Collection remains still safely packed away, displayed in labeled boxes and notebooks. The artist will be present during scheduled office hours and by appointment during the exhibition to guide visitors through the collection and highlight objects not currently on view.
Installation view “Unpacking My Potato Collection,” 2012.
Potato Tomes Obelisk (2001–2012), books containing the word “potato” in the title, installation view.
Price’s Potato Library includes over 500 books, magazines, catalogs and brochures in many languages from around the globe. Some of these are featured in “Potato Tomes Obelisk” (2001-2012), a tower of books with the ‘potato’ in the title stacked by size and standing like a monument to the full spectrum of potato knowledge–from history to humor and nearly every genre in between.
Installation view with “I Never Get Tired of Saying Potato”
A video installation called “I Never Get Tired of Saying Potato,” shows the artist repeating the word ‘potato’ on a screen embedded in a pile of potatoes. In this humorous work, Price demonstrates his commitment to his subject of study, turning the potato into a mantra, as his own head seems to take on the characteristics of one.
“Antique Potato Mashers,” from the collection of Jeffrey Allen Price
Installation view “Unpacking My Potato Collection,” 2012.
“Potato TV Station,” VHS collection of Potatoes on TV and in movies.
“Unpacking My Potato Collection” on view during the “Occupying Potato” exhibition in the Islip Art Museum’s main galleries from September 19 – November 18, 2012.