Living on Earth: The Work of Robert Hite

Experience the engaging and intriguing photographs, paintings, and structural installations of Living on Earth: The Work of Robert Hite on site at Hancock Shaker Village, and in the galleries at Berkshire Museum in this first-of-its kind collaborative exhibition between the two Pittsfield organizations!

Robert Hite is an accomplished painter, sculptor, and photographer, whose work often includes components of all three disciplines. He creates small-scale structures, dwellings, and living spaces, many of which then become central to his photographs once they are sited in the landscape. Hite finds inspiration in the ever-present influence of nature and the narrative tradition of his Southern upbringing. His images have an engaging, intriguing ambiance, created by the way he captures the three-dimensional structures as they are placed in nature.

Visitors to both sites will experience a full range of the artist’s work. Hancock Shaker Village will showcase two major site-specific installations and 4 to 6 other pieces of the artist’s sculpture in the out-of-doors, amid its gardens and iconic buildings. A selection of Hite’s paintings will be on view in the Poultry House Gallery. Berkshire Museum will present an indoor gallery of Hite’s photography and sculpture within the Art Deco Crane Room. In addition to the artwork on view at the two sites, a full schedule of artist talks, workshops, and a film has been planned. Visitors of all ages will enjoy the exhibition at each location, situated just five miles from each other in the city of Pittsfield.

At the Berkshire Museum, visitors will see a number of Hite’s large photographs featuring his hand-built structures and dwellings, placed out-of-doors into the landscape and photographed in such a way as to confound the viewers’ sense of scale. Many of the images incorporate water or mist, creating a sense of mystery with a softening of lines and angles. Hite’s cottages and cabins, many on stilts, have a lopsided, somewhat ramshackle air to them, as if nature is slowly reclaiming the buildings.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website