BINGHAMTON, NY -- The Binghamton University Art Museum will open its fall exhibitions Thursday, Sept. 17 with Reclaiming Ruins: The New York State Inebriate Asylum and Other "Abandonscapes," by A.D. Wheeler and guest curated by Julia Walker, assistant professor of art history. Walker will speak at the opening reception, which will be held from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17. The exhibition will be on view through Dec. 19.

Wheeler’s evocative photographs of abandoned sites in Pennsylvania and Upstate New York speak to the contemporary taste for ruin and decay, but go beyond these structures’ painted surfaces to explore their historical content and architectural significance.

Making use of High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography, in which several shots taken at different exposures are combined into a single image, his photographs reveal the visual and historical layers that have accumulated at these sites and make a strong case for their reuse.

Several public lectures will be offered in conjunction with the exhibition:

• Wheeler will give a gallery talk at 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1.

• Roger Luther from the Broome County Historical Society will give two talks: "Binghamton’s Castle: Its History and Recent Developments" at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22; and "Abandoned Asylums of New York State" at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18. Luther curated the complementary exhibition, The Castle on the Hill, on view in the Museum’s lower galleries.

For more information, visit http://binghamton.edu/art-museum/.