An exhibition of new work, Triptycon by Alfonso Fratteggiani Bianchi will open at Charlotte Jackson Fine Art. Entering a gallery of paintings by Alfonso Fratteggiani Bianchi you feel as if you are walking into an ancient circle of standing stones, or the great cave at Lascaux with its pre-historic paintings of bison and horses, or perhaps even onto a crowded railroad platform. You are entering a different world with a different orientation. Despite their small scale, these paintings with their mind-piercing and vivid reds, blues, oranges, claim the attention and absorption of a large scale mural. Each painting, or constellation of paintings, is a presence-solid, unique, and resonant-the way a monolith or a human face might be.

The reference to stone circles and cave paintings does not mean that Fratteggiani Bianchi's work is in any way primitive. On the contrary, these pieces are elegant, fiercely radical monochrome works which have taken their place in galleries alongside the cutting edge of contemporary art. Rather the connection is one of intensity and directness. As renowned art collector Giuseppe Panza di Biumo has said, "Fratteggiani's discovery is a real event in the history of art. It is a first time in thousands [of] years." The genius of Fratteggiani Bianchi's paintings is that there is nothing here that intercedes between artist and pigment, between viewer and color. Here is the quintessence of art-making, the candor of a human hand rubbing pigment into stone, experienced through the matrix of thousands of years of intervening human history, thought, art, and theory. Complex and simple simultaneously.

Fratteggiani Bianchi uses pure powdered pigments which he hunts for during his travels around the world. He applies this pure color directly onto cut pietra serena limestone without the use of any medium: No glue, no acrylic, no oil. Fratteggiani Bianchi uses only the palm and side of his hand to press and pack the powder into the porous limestone which is native to his Umbria region in Italy. Unhindered by the usual binders, the pigment is allowed to remain unfixed and alive, and therefore to breathe and radiate its full force of color. Although he has been perfecting and refining his technique for years, Fratteggiani Bianchi says, "I always find (whether because I search them or because they show themselves) new qualities in the different pigments and their handling, application. Every painting is a new challenge."

With Triptycon Fratteggiani Bianchi adds another dimension by creating three-panel pieces, triptychs of stone and stunning color. These triptychs are carefully planned to explore relationships between the characteristics of the pigments, stone, and formats. If a single Fratteggiani Bianchi piece-perhaps a rich, velvety, shockingly deep red-is like a single star, radiating color and light, fixing and arresting the gaze, then the triptychs are like constellations. As Fratteggiani Bianchi says, "... each part shines by its own, but observing it together with other stars a relation comes out, a depth which implies wider views and hypothesis." In Triptych # 020, #021, #022, for example, three astonishing blues come together: clear aqua, deep navy, and pure sky blue. Each alone suggests a quality of sky or water, of light in summer twilight or the color in a curling wave. Together they do something more by reminding us of how each single color is present within the others-how a bruised evening sky also holds within itself the hues of morning.

As Fratteggiani Bianchi says, color is matter. The brilliance of color within these paintings is capable of piercing straight through the eye into the heart and mind. It awakens, it opens. But more than that, it is solid. It affects and appeals to us directly, in the same way Ezra Pound's famous poem, In a Station of the Metro does: "The apparition of these faces in the crowd; petals on a wet, black bough." With Fratteggiani Bianchi's paintings the metaphor cycles backward, with the "petals" of color becoming the haunting faces of a crowd.

In Fratteggiani Bianchi's latest exhibition, Triptycon, colors so saturate and vibrant that they are unmistakably alive and absolutely real remind us that we, too, are vividly alive and real.

Pictured:

Triptych #020; #021; #022, 2011,

pigment on limestone, 8.50" x 5.5" each

VERVE Gallery of Photography Presents: DO PROCESS – A group exhibition showcasing artists who utilize various techniques in their art-making process.

Brigitte Carnochan, Cy DeCosse, Joy Goldkind, Jennifer Schlesinger, Caitlyn Soldan, Henrieke Strecker, Maggie Taylor, Kamil Vojnar

Conversations with the artists: Saturday, February 25, 2012, 12:00pm

VERVE Gallery of Photography is pleased to present Do Process, a group exhibition of work by eight VERVE Gallery artists. In this exhibition, each artist utilizes his or her own special technique to produce photographic based artworks. Some of the images in the exhibition are made using contemporary processes, while others use alternative processes. Still others are made using both modern digital tools and old proven techniques. These techniques are characterized as “alternative processes” to distinguish the final print from the more ubiquitous gelatin silver print or contemporary digital print. The work in this exhibition ranges from 19th century print making practices, such as, hand-painted Gelatin Silver prints, Gum Dichromate, Bromoil, Mordançage, Photogravure and Albumen printing to more modern digitally composed and mixed media Photomontage prints. The exhibition showcases the history of some of the photographic techniques used over the last three centuries. In order to perfect and master these techniques, each of the artists demonstrates the virtues of perseverance and a passion and dedication to the photographic medium. Moreover, each artist has been open to hours of experimentation, and each is receptive to innovation. This exhibition is a celebration of 21st century approaches to 19th and 20th century photographic processes. All the work in the exhibition was produced especially for this show. The artists will share their formulas and techniques with us on Saturday.

WINTEROWD FINE ART announces an exhibition of new glass sculpture by Alex Gabriel Bernstein.

A powerful contrast and harmony exists between the delicate elegance of glass and the raw rusted surface of steel found in an Alex Gabriel Bernstein sculpture. The dissonant nature of the two materials somehow find a perfect world together.

Alex’s sculptures begin at the kiln. Alex casts blocks of glass into shapes, which he then carves. The glass transforms under the blade of a wet cutting saw, polishing tools and hand chisels. With each slice of the saw and each blow of the hammer, the sculpture is continuously in danger of ruin. This deconstruction is what makes this sculptors work so unique. He challenges the casual observer’s perception of what glass can do, how it can be shaped and formed. They remind us of glaciers, waterfalls, stacked slate, a bird’s wing, geysers, seeds sprouting out of earth, rugged canyon walls, stalactites, jutting flames and oceanic waves. Though not a direct representation of any of these natural forms, there is something enigmatically familiar about them. They explore concepts of time, creation, transformation and the fragility of our environment.

The son of glass artists William & Katherine Bernstein, Alex was encouraged to make art in the studio at a young age. He met and was mentored by many leading figures in the art glass movement. Alex thrived in this environment of learning. His intimate knowledge of glass allows a free exploration of the glass medium that is admired by artists and collectors alike. Bernstein received an MFA in glass sculpture from the School for American Crafts at RIT. Widely collected, Alex Gabriel Bernstein’s sculpture can be found in the Corning Museum of Glass, the Glasmuseum Frauenau, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the Palm Springs Art Museum to name a few.

Noted for his modern interpretations of forms built upon the long traditions and materials of Tanba pottery, Keiichi Shimizu explores three-dimensional interplay of lines and surfaces. His deceptively simple and elegant forms are in fact sophisticated aesthetic expressions, brought forth by use of Tanba clay with contrasting colors and texture.

Touching Stone Gallery is privileged to introduce Fusako Akao, who developed her distinctive style while studying under her innovative mentor Kiyoyuki Kato in Gifu, Japan. Akao has dedicated her career to use clay to explore conceptual ideas. This exhibition is the first time her highly original works are shown in the USA.

Jennifer Jones: Mixed Media on Wood Panel

May 25th - June 10th

Opening Reception

July 27 - August 22, 2012

The award-winning works of Iwate ceramist Yukiya Izumita evoke awe and amazement. One seldom expects to see clay honed to razor-thin edges, torn apart, twisted at impossible angles like giant origami, to create sculptures with tension and beauty, forms that appear unpolished and at the same time complete.