PAST GALLERY EVENTS

Collage, Jesus and the Inanimate Object
Donna Maria Bruton

January 24 - February 28, 2004
Opening Reception: Saturday, January 24 3-6 PM

The Bronx River Art Center (BRAC) is proud to present two simultaneous solo exhibitions by internationally recognized artists, Glenn Goldberg and Donna Maria Bruton. In our main gallery there is an exhibit of new work created by Glenn Goldberg. Titled The Sun, the Sky, and the Moon. This series of original wall paintings, works on paper and canvas, deal with the need for silence, exoticism, reflection, and the sublime, resonating silence and intimacy. The way in which Goldberg utilizes the main gallery - painting the walls sky blue - evokes air, wind, turbulence, water and stillness. Additional images of his in the show include birds, strange plants, trees, and flowers as well as space age detailed orbs. The objects painted are akin to miniature worlds that we peer into with curiosity. Viewers are welcomed into a realm that is alive, rarified and friendly, where one can sit and watch action that is still. In Goldbergs own words, "Ideally, one leaves the scene of the show lighter than when they came."

A Bronx native, Glenn Goldberg studied at the New York Studio School and Queens College. He has had solo shows at Knoedler Gallery, NY; Willard Gallery, NY; the Galerie Albrecht, Munich; and at the Greenberg Gallery in St. Louis among others. Goldberg's work is included in collections at the National Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art in LA. He has been awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship, an Edward Albee Foundation Grant, and an NEA. He currently lives and works in New York City.

In our second gallery space BRAC presents Collage, Jesus and the Inanimate Object. This work, by artist Donna Maria Bruton, combines collage, religious icons and imagery from popular culture to resurrect religious painting. The idea behind the work came out of Bruton's interest in Christ, or the spiritual essence of Jesus, and her observations of the Christian preoccupation with the physical make up of Jesus as represented through icons. "I like revisiting the idea of producing paintings that help to lead human beings toward salvation. To do this in a modern context means capturing the attention of the viewer in an instant." Bruton's work utilizes tracing paper printed with a variety of stamps that act as pattern suggesting an ethereal space. Images are constructed with textured paper, stickers, and plastic molds illustrating popular religious one-liner phrases such as "Praise Jesus" and "Jesus Saves". Instead of using metaphors as Jesus did, Bruton's work conveys religious ideology in a literal fashion. Although the images appear humorous their intent is wholly serious.

Ms. Bruton is currently the Interim Dean of Graduate Studies at the Rhode Island School of Design. Her work was recently included in the Gwangjiu Biennale in Korea and the Drawing Center's Anniversary Exhibition. She has had solo shows at Stonehill College, Fairfield University, List Gallery at Brown University and the Detroit Institute of the Arts among others.

This event is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. Additional support is provided by the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development, Bronx Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (and it's Materials for the Arts program), Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, The Bronx Delegation of the New York City Council, and US Congressman José E. Serrano's WCS-NOAA Lower Bronx River Partnership. Foundation support is provided by The New York Community Trust, The Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Chase Manhattan Foundation, and Citicorp

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