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.From Grace DeGennaro's portfolio
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Is there anything more thrilling than looking at a painter's work on paper? Not for me. As painters we approach paper differently--more primally. Or perhaps with fewer filters. We let more out onto the surface. So being privy to page after page of a portfolio is--how do I say this without it sounding corny?--like being washed over by the stream of an artist's imagination. At least that was what I was thinking when I had the opportunity to see Grace DeGennaro's portfolio at Clark Gallery in Lincoln, Mass.
I went on the last day of the Maine-based artist's exhibition, Return to the Source, which consisted primarily of paintings. It was a beautiful show, whose images--rivers and vines, diamonds, fountains and phases of the moon--come right from the work on paper, which come from traditional symbols and sacred geometry, which in turn spring from, as DeGennaro puts it, "ideas that lie beyond the limitations of language and culture." If I were to put a few words to the work, I'd say life, growth, renewal, time. I suppose it was appropriate that I went just as the earth was making its temporal transit from winter to spring.
Is there anything more thrilling than looking at a painter's work on paper? Not for me. As painters we approach paper differently--more primally. Or perhaps with fewer filters. We let more out onto the surface. So being privy to page after page of a portfolio is--how do I say this without it sounding corny?--like being washed over by the stream of an artist's imagination. At least that was what I was thinking when I had the opportunity to see Grace DeGennaro's portfolio at Clark Gallery in Lincoln, Mass.
I went on the last day of the Maine-based artist's exhibition, Return to the Source, which consisted primarily of paintings. It was a beautiful show, whose images--rivers and vines, diamonds, fountains and phases of the moon--come right from the work on paper, which come from traditional symbols and sacred geometry, which in turn spring from, as DeGennaro puts it, "ideas that lie beyond the limitations of language and culture." If I were to put a few words to the work, I'd say life, growth, renewal, time. I suppose it was appropriate that I went just as the earth was making its temporal transit from winter to spring.
Installation view from Grace DeGennaro's exhibition at The Clark Gallery, Lincoln, Mass.
My small camera does not do well with mixed-light sources, so the installation shots of a beautiful show were not so beautiful. But by a little miracle, every one of the portfolio shots was just about perfect--and it was almost as an afterthought that DeGennaro pulled out and opened the portfolio to show it to a small group of interested viewers.
The artist showing her portfolio: Her vocabulary of symbols, from the sacred geometry of many cultures, is realized in gouache on translucent okawara or heavier watercolor paper. Viewing it felt like a meditation
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You can see more of DeGennaro's paintings and work on paper on DeGennaro's website, the Clark Gallery , Aucocisco Gallery and Geoform
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6 comments:
What a lovely description of this artist's work, and on paper works in general...
I am so enthralled, I'm going to look at DeGennaro's website right now.
These look wonderful-thanks
as i look at these images, i am struck by how they seem so related to textiles...i envision rugs and tapestries and weavings
beautiful!
Incredibly special. Once again, thanks Joanne.
Thanks, Joanne, for such a wonderful post on Grace and her work -- she is simply an amazing woman, friend, artist...
Wow, great work! They look fantastic.
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