The Noyes Museum of Art
733 Lily Lake Road, Oceanville, New Jersey 08231 • (609) 652-8848 • www.noyesmuseum.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 4, 2006
CONTACT: Karen DeRosa
Communications/Development Director
(609) 652-8848 ext. 17
publicrelations@noyesmuseum.org
MIGRATING DECOYS LAND AT THE NOYES MUSEUM OF ART
Summer Exhibition Highlights Folk Art and Contemporary Decoys
OCEANVILLE, N.J. – The exhibition “The Art of Decoys Revisited” opens at The Noyes Museum of Art
on May 6, 2006 and continues through August 2, 2006. The exhibition couples decoys from The Noyes
Museum of Art’s permanent collection with contemporary artists who will use installations, printmaking
and photography to create new works of art modeled after the traditional decoys.
The exhibition includes decoys from the late 1800s to the 1980s. Carvers include prominent New
Jersey carvers Jesse Birdsall and Harry V. Shourds as well as Harry Boise, Henry Grant, John
Houseworth, Daniel Lake Leeds, Gideon Lippincott, Sam Perrine and Bradford Salmon. In addition to
New Jersey, carvers from Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, New York, Canada and California are also
represented as well as several samples from the now defunct Mason Factory previously of Detroit,
Michigan.
The exhibition’s contemporary artwork features a two-part print entitled “Decoy”, created in 1970,
from American master Jasper Johns. Johns, known for his rich paintings of ordinary items such as maps
and flags, emerged on the American art scene in the late 1950s and set the foundation for Pop Art and
Minimalism. The exhibition also includes new work by contemporary and emerging artists Joe Begonia,
Brian Meunier, Yoko Motomiya, William Skrips, Sean Fitzgerald, Carolyn Stellatella and Dean Yoffredo.
Sean Fitzgerald of Northfield, New Jersey created “D(r)ooping Decoy”, a series of suspended decoy
photographs. Fitzgerald challenges the traditional floating decoy concept by positioning his wingless
work in simulated flight. Carolyn Stellatella of Ortley Beach, New Jersey constructs a series of
- more -
The Art of Decoys Revisited at The Noyes Museum of Art, page 2
installations that play on the word decoy in works titled “Be Coy Decoy” and “Duct Duck” which is
created exclusively using duct tape.
The art of making decoys has a long history. The oldest decoys, discovered at an archaeological dig in
1924, were estimated to be 1,000 to 2,000 years old. Early American duck hunting history was not
recorded in depth until after it became a sport of the wealthy in the mid-1800s. In the Mid-Atlantic, decoy
carving flourished because of the market demand for duck. Waterways from the Atlantic Ocean to the
Chesapeake Bay developed distinctive decoy styles and carving traditions that continue today. In 1918,
the wild bird market changed when the sale of migratory wildfowl was declared illegal. The sport,
however, continued in some areas of Maryland where it was not outlawed until 1935. Over the years,
decoys have shifted from functioning as hunting tools, to being collected as folk art. Today, decoys are
also used to lure birds for ecological studies and aid in efforts to preserve endangered species.
The Noyes Museum of Art is located one and a half miles south of Historic Smithville Village, off
Route 9, on Lily Lake Road in Oceanville, New Jersey. Hours of operation are Tuesday to Saturday,
10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 5:00 p.m. Admission fees are $4 for adults and $3 for seniors
and students. For more information call (609) 652-8848 or visit www.noyesmuseum.org. General funding
for The Noyes Museum of Art is provided by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of
State, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Arts; the Mr. and Mrs. Fred Winslow Noyes
Foundation; the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; the Odessa F. and Henry D. Kahrs Charitable Trust and
the Shop Rite LPGA Classic. The Noyes Museum is a member of the South Jersey Cultural Alliance
(SJCA). The media is invited to visit the SJCA pressroom at www.sjca.net/pressroom for member press
releases as well as downloadable photos.
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