DiGiovanni painting show opens Sunday at Da Silva Gallery in Westville

Da Silva Gallery
899 Whalley Ave., New Haven, (203) 387-2539
Steve DiGiovanni
Sept. 30—Oct. 29, 2010
Opening reception: Sun., Oct. 3, 3—6 p.m.

Press release

There will be an opening for a new show of Steve DiGiovanni’s oil and acrylic paintings this Sunday from 3—6 p.m. at Da Silva Gallery in Westville. The show will be up through Oct. 29, 2010.

DiGiovanni shows new direction at Hungry Eye, opening on Wednesday

Hungry Eye Gallery
838 Whalley Avenue West Rock Ave Entrance, New Haven, (203) 494-9905
Featured Artist: Steven DiGiovanni
Through June 28, 2009.
Opening Reception: Wed., June 17, 6—8 p.m.

Press release

New Haven artist, ArLoW resident artist and Creative Arts Workshop Drawing & Painting Department Head Steven DiGiovanni is the featured guest artist this month at Hungry Eye Coop Gallery. As a neighbor to both Jennifer Jane Gallery and Hungry Eye, we are pleased to have Steven be our first Guest Artist.

Artist Statement by Steven DiGiovanni:

The works I have been doing in the last two years represent, for me, a period of terrific energy, play and experimentation. I switched media about one year ago from oil on primed canvas to acrylic on unprimed canvas. My imagery has changed significantly with the change of media, from realistically depicted figurative narratives to a much more graphic and collage-based imagery. Each of my images seems to evolve quite separately from the images that precede it. As I work I am often driven by the accidents that result from pouring, splattering and staining the unprimed material. Each effort results in a different emphasis whether it be graphic, physical or illustrational. I am now reluctant to commit fully to any coherent narrative space. Rather, I prefer that the imagery and space remain open and fluid. I draw images from digital camera snapshots, internet image searches, and my imagination. I enjoy navigating multiple layers of reference and manipulating modalities that lead to a more free-associative narrative structure. I sometimes look at the oil paintings which preceded my current efforts and miss the lush, deep surfaces which distinguish them from the shallower, more graphic acrylic media. However, I have not yet experimented with and experienced the enormous range of technical possibilities that acrylic materials can provide and I find the immediacy and freedom of the acrylic liberating and enervating. I am enjoying a new vigor in my work effort.

My review:

There are three new paintings by DiGiovanni on display in the Hungry Eye Gallery. These acrylics on canvas mark a real shift for DiGiovanni, who has specialized in precisely articulated figurative and (mystifying) narrative oil paintings. Working with acrylics has freed up his approach.

His brush strokes are more vigorous. Using a lot of thinner in his paints, DiGiovanni is drenching his canvases in fluid, dripping colors. Figurative imagery remains at the core of his work. But he's drawing his inspiration less from photographing friends and acquaintances (with the exception of his partner Chisato) and more often from pop culture and advertising detritus. I could see references to rock band logos (the Buzzcocks), record covers, advertising imagery and mechanical drawings.

In his earlier work, DiGiovanni often hinted at a narrative. His figures were often posed in domestic interiors in ways that suggested some obscure drama of alienated relationships. But these narrative hints were linear. The new works have more of a collage feeling, as though they derive fictive inspiration from the avant-garde cut-ups of William S. Burroughs.

DiGiovanni has always been content to leave room for the viewer to complete the artwork with their own imagination. Now, he leaves the actual surface "unfinished." In the work in the center of the room, imagery overlays imagery. Line sketches are overpainted by blocks of color and precisely rendered text. It is a bold move, one that allows DiGiovanni more compositional freedom without sacrificing the strengths of his draftsmanship and grasp of the figure.

There will be an opening reception for this mini-show this Wed., June 17, from 6—8 p.m.

Creative Arts Workshop exhibition showcases talented faculty

Creative Arts Workshop Hilles Gallery
80 Audubon St., New Haven, (203) 562-4927
Faculty Show
Through June 26, 2009

On thing that struck me as I wandered through the second floor of the two-floor Hilles Gallery at Creative Arts Workshop, checking out the Faculty Show, is the seductive energy of the gesture. It isn't that there were gestural drawings. Rather, there were a number of works in which the physical dynamism of the approach—or the appearance thereof—is reflected in a compelling liveliness of expression. This gestural current is present in Kelley Kapp's "Mad Plaid," a two-panel monochromatic acrylic on canvas. There's something about Kapp's doodle-like profusion of brush strokes that invites closer inspection.

A sense of fervent commotion also animates Julie Rogoff's "Through the Trees," an oil painting and abstraction. The pastel hues in "Through the Trees" capture the sense of sunlight coursing through the forest canopy. Her "Chomping at the Edge, CT River" relies on a darker palette but still conveys the feel of gestural motion.

This energy is present in Dorothy Powers' "Round Again," collaged and enlarged photocopies of a drawing of objects that look like balls of string. Nancy Eisenfeld's "Vortex," ink on paper, weds sweeps of pen lines with what appears to be stamps of abstract natural forms. Again, whether Eisenfeld approached the execution of "Vortex" in a gestural manner, the drawing pulses with visual energy.

Some works convey this sense of motion and urgency even though the act of creation was likely meticulous, even painstaking. Connie Pfeiffer's "Opening" is a steel wire wall sculpture in which two vertical, parallel lines anchor a chaotic profusion of horizontal threads. It is like a 3-D drawing in black and white. There is also motion captured in the sculptures of David Millen and Susan Clinard—figures poised in one-legged balance.

The exhibition showcases the breadth of media in which CAW's artist/teachers work. One example is the trio of sculptures by Jeannie Thomma. Thomma's poles are wrapped and decorated with felted wool and mixed media—thread, lace, sequins, ribbon. Thomma uses the characteristics of all materials at her disposal—the colors, textures and surfaces—to create complex, visually engaging works.

Downstairs, I loved the contrast between Steven R. DiGiovanni's "Untitled" acrylic on canvas and Josh Gaetjen's "Story and Play II." Lines and form are important for both painters. But where Gaetjen's urban landscape is concerned with accurately replicating architectural perspective and the play of light and shadows, DiGiovanni bends and warps his geometric shapes. He turns space inside out, painting a funhouse mirror of his imagination. Both large works satisfy in their very different ways (although both painters share a command of their craft.)

A short review like this can't do justice to this show. Suffice to say, Creative Arts Workshop is a treasure trove of talent and a real jewel for New Haven.

Blogging last Friday's openings

It was a busy Friday evening for your Connecticut Art Scene blogger, running from show opening to show opening in New Haven. I took in some comic book and cartoon art at the Small Space Gallery in the offices of the Arts council of Greater New Haven, the Faculty Show at Creative Arts Workshop, Dave Gagne's photos of the Connecticut hardcore punk scene at Hope Gallery Tattoo and Silas Finch's found object sculptures decorating Koffee on Orange and the Channel 1 skateboard shop. Herewith some short posts...

Small Space Gallery
70 Audubon St., 2nd floor, New Haven, (203) 772-2788
EXTRAordinary: Contemporary Comic Books and Cartoons
Ends Oct. 31, 2007

Curated by comic book historian Prof. William H. Foster III, the show features a lot of contemporary work by mostly local comic book (or cartoon-style) artists. There was a good crowd in the aptly named Small Space Gallery—the center hallway and conference room of the Art Council's offices. A couple of the artists, cartoonist Jerry Craft and recent School of Visual Arts graduate Raheem Nelson, spoke about their art and what the comics form means to them. The erudite and ever-enthusiastic Foster also talked briefly about comics and, in particular, about the participation of African-Americans in the comics business (and the long term white-ness of the medium). Foster is the author of Looking For a Face Like Mine, a selection of essays, articles and interviews surveying and analyzing the representation of Black people in the comics medium.

I felt some of the work was uneven. But I was taken with the grotesqueries of Paul Timmins and also enjoyed Jackie Roche's well-executed pencil drawings and oil. The steroidal superhero bamalama of Rob Stull with Ken Lashley or Mike Wiering were muscular examples of contemporary comic book art style. While I prefer the less cluttered draftsmanship of the comic book artists I grew up with—Neal Adams, Jim Steranko, Carmine Infantino, Jack Kirby, Curt Swan, Wally Wood—Stull's imagery makes sense in our hyper-technological, dehumanized era. Jerry Craft offers a classic cartoony style that seems a throwback to the funny pages of the 1950's. And James Polisky, who got a mention in our review last fall of the City-Wide Open Studios main show, is represented with four macabre technically excellent silkscreen panels.

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Creative Arts Workshop Hilles Gallery
80 Audubon St., New Haven, (203) 562-4927
Faculty Show
Ends Oct. 12, 2007.

I kind of stumbled on the Creative Arts Workshop opening. I didn't know it was happening but I was in the neighborhood for the Small Space opening and, well, there it was. The upstairs and downstairs of the Hilles Gallery are filled with work by the CAW faculty. CAW is known for the exceptional artistic talent gathered among its teachers.

I hope to get back there to comment more fully on the show but wanted to note one work in particular that really struck me. When I wrote about Steve DiGiovanni's River Street Gallery show back in June, one of the works I addressed was "Festival of Floats (Handa City, Japan)." The painting was a departure for DiGiovanni in two senses: it was painted with acrylics not oils, and it was more gestural than studied. DiGiovanni's "Portrait of My Son" in the Faculty Show takes this approach to the next level. On unstretched canvas, it is an explosion of imagery, shapes, figures, symbols, color and text. It seems unfinished, an appropriate metaphor for a painting of a child, or, childhood in general. It looks like a breakthrough.

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Hope Gallery Tattoo
817 Chapel St., Suite 2F, New Haven, (203) 752-0564
CT Hardcore: The Way We Were
Ends Sept. 23, 2007

The gallery room was packed at Hope Gallery Tattoo Friday night for the show of Dave Gagne's photos. There were dozens of black and white 8x10's as well as one wall with a slew of 5x7 prints. Along with the plethora of images—crowded on the walls like a moshing crowd at a hardcore show—were testimonials to the scene from various participants: band members, audience members (sometimes both). The images were shot in venues like Rudy's and the late lamented Daily Caffe but most particularly at the Tune Inn, the cavernous club that used to be on Center Street in New Haven.

According to Gagne, the photos were taken from roughly 1987 through the late '90's.

"I wanted to show more of the crowd interaction than tight shots of the bands," Gagne told me at the show. "It wasn't just about the music. It was about the people and the scene in general."

With a couple of hundred images to display, he chose putting the bands in alphabetical order as the default organizing principle. As the crowd took in the images-and connected with old friends and scenesters—an iPod played music from as many of the bands as Gagne could find recordings of. He said that aspect of the show was probably more challenging than getting the photos together.

It took about two months to gather the reminiscences, Gagne said.

"I had the concept in my head for a while. I wanted to involve other people. I called up about a dozen people I'm still in contact with now that I knew back then," he said.

Damon Lucibello wrote:

Most of the hardcore and punk shows at the Tune Inn were completely chaotic.

...At some shows, the stage was packed with so many audience members that it became virtually impossible to actually see the performing musicians.

...The breakdown of the barrier between the bands and the audience was a major part of the Tune Inn's charm.

These are images of exultation. Delighted grimaces on the faces of the performers. The gesturing and eyes-closed, open-mouthed shouting like at some tent revival meeting of an underground pagan religion. The full-bodied trust inherent in crowd surfing and stage diving.

There is a starkness to the black and white imagery. For the most part, this was a crowd that gathered at night. I noted one daytime image, of a protest against the closing of the Daily Caffe coffeehouse on Elm Street near the corner of Park. Tarn Granucci holds a sign reading, "In the great tradition of the 9th Square, less culture, more empty buildings."

The essence of what the scene meant to many of the participants is captured in this reminiscence from Kevin Decker:

The most important part of the scene was the camaraderie between friends. You stood by your friends and they stood by you. Twenty years later, I haven't forgotten those lessons. In fact, they play a major role in my life as a union organizer, husband and father. Hardcore has guided me from an angry teenager into a man who stands up for what he believes in and holds his head high with dignity.

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Channel 1
220 State St., New Haven, 1-888-SHOP-CH1
Fragments: Sculptures by Silas Finch

Over at the skate shop Channel 1, Silas Finch's sculptures were decorating the walls. Finch uses his old skateboard decks as they canvas or base, which is then decorated with found objects. Finch has a gift for creating effective compositions.

"Always a Part of Me" has a skateboard deck covered with leather. Under the leather there skateboard trucks—essentially the axle mechanism for the board—almost pushing through the leather. One part of the leather is stitched up. Finch had cut into it to perform "surgery" (adjusting one of the trucks) and stitched it up. It reinforces the sense of skin and organism.

The sculpture "8:46 AM" is covered with printing press letters. Two clocks are also mounted on the board, one set to 8:46 and one to 9:03. Those were the times that the two planes struck Towers 1 and 2 of the World Trade Center. The letters, most in reverse, spell out "WTC," "2001" and other references to the terrorist attack.

Finch also has several similar pieces decorating the walls over at Koffee on Orange.