Join Arts for ACT Gallery, located at 2265 First
Street in downtown Fort Myers on Friday, May 1, from 6 to 10 pm for the opening
reception and art walk for our May featured artists: Steve Pennisi in the main
gallery “Both Sides of the Paint”. Showing off the main gallery: Linocuts, Woodcuts, and Collographs Print Artist, Megan Davis, and Abstract Artist, Kevin
Cote.
In
the Main Gallery – Steve Pennisi
Born
in Ann Arbor, Michigan, resided in coastal Maine for 30 years, Steve Pennisi
now lives in Southwest Florida.
Education
University
of Michigan, 1975-1979
University
of Michigan, School of Art 1977-1979
Work
History
Founded
Pennisi & Company (Advertising & Design)
1987-2005
Currently, Steve is working
as full time artist.
Artist Statement: My practice grew out of my desire to "own
something" as an artist. In my earlier work, which included realism,
abstract and abstract expressionism, I was frustrated knowing where the
painting would end up. The rest of the process was just a matter of moving to
the inevitable conclusion. I wanted to find a way to stay open and be
continually surprised and engaged. I discovered my technique one day when the
corner of dry paint on my waxed paper disposable palette peeled up. When I
peeled it off I was amazed at what I found on the hidden side of the paint. It revealed
underlying gestural patterns previously hidden from the artist. It had a life
and spontaneity that I had never seen before…something that felt human but
freed of any doubt or hesitation. I found that I could paint on this clear
cellophane typically used for gift wrapping, and when I glued it to the canvas
the film would peel off, essentially creating printing plates. Having been a
commercial printer for many years made this approach second nature. I could lay
a piece of clear film on the wet paint and capture that image too. This ability
to use "both sides of the paint" gave me a freedom and expanded
palette that continues to excite me with possibilities everyday. The paint
vacillates between pure physical paint - Jackson Pollock like splashes and splatters
- to pure photographic Ansel Adams-like halftone effects that can only happen
chemically, to create these paintings. All the effects are created by how I
pour and pull the paint. I use a myriad of tools such as squeegees, metal
strips, cans of air, water and alcohol to affect the hidden side of the paint.
Initially I have limited myself to Black and White initially as I learn to
control the elements and possibilities. The plastic nature enables a certain
distancing from the preserved, disembodied mark, allowing me to contemplate and
build the painting without losing any of the initial energy. Much of the
process is just looking..like finding animals in the clouds and Jesus in the
toast, but ultimately taps into my unconscious narratives. I stop when the
result reaches a complexity that I could not have planned in advance but
somehow communicates something important to me. Having lived by the ocean in
Maine for 30 years, the ocean theme runs through many of my works. The painting
is a collaboration with the material properties of the acrylic paints, my tools
and unconscious. It requires me to be an editor in order to control each piece
even if I could not predict the effect of each piece of paint beforehand. Prior
to discovering this technique, I always knew where a piece would end up. Now I
must trust, push and cajole to end up with more of a poetic approximation.
In the White Gallery – Abstract Works by Kevin Côté
Kevin is originally from Buffalo, New York and is currently a
student at Florida Southwestern State College studying Architectural
Drafting. Color and Technique come together to create windows into the
inner workings of Kevin Cote’s beliefs and feelings on art, which has been an
experiment from the beginning and over the last year is starting to take shape
into something he feel happy with and wants to share. Kevin works show
control of perspective and the viewer finds these works beautiful, complex and
aesthetically and physiologically pleasing.
Off the Main Gallery
– Megan Davis
Megan
Davis is a native to Naples, Florida. She has both an art and a psychology
degree, and would like to eventually become an art therapist. Davis, now
25, is currently teaching art and pursuing her Professional
Educator's Certificate. Artist statement: My body of work
consists of various types of prints and paintings. As an individual
schooled both in art and psychology, I find the two practices walk hand in
hand, especially in surrealism. How an individual's brain perceives art is
based on a series of processes in which the image is torn down to its basic
components, such as color and angles, for recognition of its individual parts
in a bottom-up approach, and a series processes that try to match the
overall experience to a previous experience in a top-down approach. This means
that when someone looks at a piece of art, they see not only what the artist
has created, but brought their own life experiences to flavor their perception
of the art. I create art with this concept in mind, trying to leave each piece
with an ambiguous sense, and allowing for further exploration by the
viewer to draw their own conclusion. I consider the viewers'
interpretation of the art as equally correct as my intentions in the
work.
I create both prints and paintings. My prints consist of linocuts,
woodcuts, and collographs, all printed with Akua ink. Some of the pieces are
printed on a press, allowing for a crisp, clean look, while others, the
woodcuts in particular, are printed by hand, allowing for the natural textures
of the paper and woodgrain to play a bigger part in the piece. My painting are
done with acrylic, and while I love the excitement of brush strokes and flowing
color, you'll notice this body of work is primarily made up of prints due to my
love of the zen-like marrying of technical work and spontaneity
printmaking.
These exhibits continue through June 1, 2015.
