The new Skunk and Main Art Collective, a dedicated gallery that just launched this month at North Fork Apothecary (37070 Main Road, Cutchogue), is kicking off June with its inaugural show—and it’s a mic-dropper: the collected works of photographer Deborah Feingold.
The prolific and legendary photographer is behind some of the most iconic, stunning portraiture of rock and roll legends, the likes of David Bowie, Madonna, Prince, Sinead O’Connor, the Rolling Stones and many others.
Feingold, a North Fork resident, worked with North Fork Apothecary owner Stephanie Sack to curate the gallery space, which is located toward the back of the store. And Sack couldn’t think of a better artist to partner with on her first gallery show.
“This has been a long dream of mine,” says Sack, who spent two years encouraging her friend to do a gallery show, which has turned into “a beautiful retrospective of [Feingold’s] long work, since the beginning.”
Despite shooting famous photos of some of the biggest stars in the world, Feingold had some trepidation leading up to the exhibition. “It’s very hard to see your own work,” she says.
For the show at Skunk and Main, she focused mainly on her music photography. The most sparkling of stars of sound fill the walls, from Billy Joel to Frank Zappa to Todd Rundgren — but also showcased some lesser-known photos, as well as outtakes and shots that have never been shown publicly before. “This is such a small sampling,” says Feingold, “and it was fun to have the opportunity to mix it up.”
The exhibition is the inaugural show for the Skunk and Main Art Collective, and Feingold will curate the gallery’s programming going forward.
“We want to create things we would want to go to on the North Fork,” Feingold says.
Sack and Feingold met four or five years ago at a party at TouchGoods in Southold, and quickly developed a close friendship.
“It’s a nice group of women helping women,” Feingold says of the female business owners she’s gotten to know over the years. “That’s a big part of this. These are good women who are hard-working people.”
The show will run for a month, followed by a new, to-be-announced exhibition in mid-July.
While Feingold is the artist being highlighted in this show, it’s easy to see the North Fork Apothecary as its own special art history piece, with stories that run nearly as deep as its vast interior here. The building, which dates back to 1850, has housed many businesses and served many purposes over its nearly 175-year history — a post office that Albert Einstein may have used, the Down Home Store, Phoebe & Bell. For its latest incarnation, Sacks only half jokes that it was inspired by the fictional Rose Apothecary on the show “:Schitt’s Creek.” And now, of course, she’s adding art gallery to her carefully curated clothing, beauty and home store
In many ways, it has become Sack’s canvas, offering both a store and gallery, one of many new arts projects rising up on the North Fork. Joining the likes of the North Fork Arts Center in Greenport and the Corchaug Repertory Theatre, which launched last year and has focused on new theatrical works, the Skunk and Main Art Collective is one of the many new and bold artistic experiments in the region.
“If I can be a small part of it, that’s beyond my measure,” Sack says.
To celebrate the opening of Feingold’s show, Skunk and Main Art Collective will host a special reception on June 8 at Meadowlark North Fork (24385 Main Road, Cutchogue) at 6 p.m. where Feingold will tell some of the fascinating stories behind the photographs. Tickets are $75 and can be purchased here.
