Member Preview | “Metaphysical Maze: Laurent Grasso at Frederic Church’s Olana and the Thomas Cole Site” Exhibition Opening

The Olana Partnership and the Thomas Cole Site invite you to a members & supporters preview of Metaphysical Maze, a joint exhibition of works by acclaimed French conceptual artist Laurent Grasso.

Saturday, November 21, 2026

1 – 3 PM at the Studio, Thomas Cole National Historic Site

2 – 4 PM at the Historic House, Olana State Historic Site

After viewing the exhibition, enjoy refreshments and member discounts in the Olana Shop and Cole Center.

This preview is open to members of The Olana Partnership and Thomas Cole Site only. Space is limited to the member and a guest.

Please RSVP here by Tuesday, November 17th. If you have any questions, please contact Hannah Diamond at hdiamond@olana.org or call 518-751-6857.

Not yet a member? Visit OLANA.org/membership to join The Olana Partnership, receive invites to member-only programs, and support our work to restore, interpret, and protect Frederic Church’s Olana.

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Metaphysical Maze: Laurent Grasso at Frederic Church’s Olana and the Thomas Cole Site is a joint exhibition of works by acclaimed French conceptual artist Laurent Grasso (b. 1972, France) taking place at Olana, the home and designed landscape of Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900), and the Thomas Cole National Historic Site, the historic home and studios of Thomas Cole (1801-1848). The joint exhibition accompanies Grasso’s largest ever solo exhibition to date in the United States at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts, Metaphysical Maze.

At Olana, Grasso’s installation will be centered on an immersive presentation of the artist’s film Orchid Island (2022) within the context of the Dining Room / Picture Gallery of Olana’s

Main House. Elsewhere, new paintings from Grasso’s ongoing series Studies into the Past will be hung alongside artworks by Frederic Church, “infiltrating” the visitor’s sense of the historical past.

IMAGE CREDIT:

Laurent Grasso, Studies into the Past, oil on wood panel, 112 x 160 cm, © Laurent Grasso, ADAGP, Paris (2026) Courtesy of the artist and Sean Kelly, Photo Jason Wyche. LG-P.26.4346.

FUNDER CREDIT:

Metaphysical Maze: Laurent Grasso at Frederic Church’s Olana and the Thomas Cole Site is organized at Olana State Historic Site by The Olana Partnership in cooperation with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, and in collaboration with the Thomas Cole National Historic Site and MASS MoCA.

The Metaphysical Maze project is curated by Denise Markonish.

This project is supported by donors to The Olana Partnership’s Frederic Church 200 Fund, with special appreciation to members of the Frederic Church 200 Committee.

Programming and exhibitions organized by The Olana Partnership are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.