Artist Talk with Gina Occhiogrosso

The Arts Center of the Capital Region invites the public to a special artist talk on February 9 at 6:30 p.m. with Gina Occhiogrosso about her solo exhibition Surfacing. Surfacing opened January 14th and will run until March 11th.

Containing video, assemblages, sketchbooks, and paintings, Surfacing spans the past five years and touches upon the empowerment of the feminine in contemporary painting, the boundaries of craft and fine art, the pandemic, job loss, and other themes.

Gina Occhiogrosso’s paintings are composed through the application of wet color on a surface and through the process of disassembly and realignment. Throughout the paintings, slightly raised seams are made where freshly painted edges join, creating both linear and sculptural elements. The seams suggest ties that are tenuous yet sturdy, fragile yet unified. Bright colors, shifting shapes and the visibility of seams connect to notions of pattern, fashion, crafts, and the history of “women’s work.” The toughness and thinness of the fabric is a reminder of the tension inherent in that history.

In addition to presenting over 25 paintings, Occhiogrosso developed narratives in other media inspired by the events of the past two years. At the beginning of the pandemic, Occhiogrosso moved in with her aging mother and decided to document the interior of the house (her childhood home), in an accordion sketchbook that unfolds like time. She uses another accordion sketchbook to focus on the political and environmental flux we have experienced.

Utilizing a model dollhouse, Occhiogrosso simulates sunrise and sunset through low tech means to deliver a poem about the pandemic that moves like light cast upon the wall. She also saved materials from a job lost, grocery bags from curbside pickup, take-out containers from lunches delivered while at a residency that had been closed for a year, and brought them together as colorful diaristic works of art.

Gina Occhiogrosso grew up in Niskayuna, NY. She received her BFA in Painting at Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, and her MFA in Painting at The State University of New York at Buffalo. She has taught at Bucknell University, RIT, Sage Colleges, Skidmore College, and The College of Saint Rose. Occhiogrosso has lived in downtown Troy for 18 years.

Gina Occhiogrosso is represented by Zinc Contemporary in Seattle WA, and Appleton Art Design, Westchester, NY and Westport, CT. Her work can be viewed online at www.gocchiogrosso.com.

About

The Arts Center of the Capital Region, on Monument Square in downtown Troy, is a 36,000 square foot fully-accessible studio, exhibition, and performing arts space. The Arts Center offers classes, exhibits, and programs serving 48,000 people a year drawn from an 11-county region surrounding Troy. The Arts Center is proud to serve as a regional arts center, known for its wide range of high-quality classes for adults and children, arts camps for children and teens, highly acclaimed exhibitions, funding, and technical support for arts organizations and artists.

Gallery Hours

• Monday: 10 – 5 pm
• Tuesday – Thursday: 10 am – 7 pm
• Friday: 10 am – 5 pm
• Saturday: 10 am – 2 pm

Image

Now You’re Talking, 55”x58” acrylic ink and textile paint on pieced and sewn muslin. 2020