Sidney Long

October 17 - November 27, 2023

Window On Hudson is thrilled to present the first solo exhibition of writer Sidney Long with “Red Line”.  Long’s precise, sly, occasionally heartbreaking, and cutting poems are on view 24/7 in the windows with subtitled video of her reading.  Indoors, a red line guides viewers through moments in Long’s life told through poetry, starting with a snowflake, followed by a stop at a thrift store, a moment of tragedy, a Grand Tour, ex-lovers, and ending with a vow.  

The “Red Line” that connects Long’s exhibited writings references an editor’s red pen, the red pool of tragedy, the dotted red line of travel, and the red of fierce love.  Her poems tell honest stories from moments in her life, with humor, optimism, and a seasoned New Yorker’s frankness.  Long makes the distinction that she is a writer who sometimes writes poetry, rather than a poet, “I will see something that catches my imagination or I’ll experience some deep emotion or recall a memory and think, ‘This is a poem,’ and write it.”  The poems indoors are punctuated by photographs taken by Long, visual references, and drawings by her brother Fred.

From the Artist

The Anatomy of “How A Blizzard Begins”

A few years ago in Hudson, a big snowstorm was  predicted.  The morning of the storm, the sky was overcast and menacing and the barometric pressure had plummeted.  I was walking up the steps to the entrance to the post office when I saw a lone snowflake.  A man climbing the stairs slightly ahead of me saw the snowflake, too, and he turned to me and said, portentously, “Now it begins.”

I put myself in the snowflake’s place, bewildered by the man’s expression of dread towards my tiny self, and wrote the poem “How A Blizzard Begins.”

After I wrote it, I realized it had greater meaning, and when I read Mary Oliver’s poem “Percy Wakes Me (Fourteen),” I adapted the last three lines of her poem to comment on mine.

This is a poem about a snowflake.
This is a poem about more than a snowflake.
Think about it.

James Merrill is a poet whose work has meant a lot to me.  Mary Oliver’s poetry is constantly enchanting and the phrase “Think about it.” could be appended to most of her poems.

A Poem

“VESSELS,”  a poem not included in the show,  I wrote a few months ago when I was looking at the veins in my wrist….and I would like to include it now.

VESSELS
how often do we look at our veins:
a network of blue lines, a map of blood,
mighty rivers and little streams
carrying life to our hearts.
— Sidney Long

Dedication

I would like to dedicate the show “Red Line” to Window On Hudson’s Artistic Director, Jeremy Bullis, who saw the visual possibilities in my poetry (a large screen tv! a whole window featuring my birthday poem to Linda Mussman!) and made it happen. Heartfelt thanks, Jeremy.

I would also like to dedicate “Red Line” to my brother Fred, whose talent as an artist never fails to astonish me, and whose compassion for others and formidable intellect inspired awe and deep love among his wide circle of Santa Fe friends.

About the Artist

Sidney Long moved to Hudson, NY in 2016 after spending 20 years as an aspiring filmmaker and writer in New York City and then moving to Newport, Rhode Island.  From 1979-1999 in NYC while working in film, Long lived the life of an artist and supported herself with a variety of jobs including freelance writing, public relations, waitressing and as a cashier at the world famous La Grenouille.  

From 1999-2016 in Newport she worked as a salesperson at Cottage & Garden, a high-end importer of Irish goods, and at the front desk of the Yankee Peddler Inn.  Since moving to Hudson, she has written two screenplays and sold several series of photographs of Hudson to a prominent New York art advisor.  She is currently writing about her time as a cashier at La Grenouille and the artists, actors, moguls, and jetsetters that dined and partied at its tables.