Joseph Fucigna in Thunder Umbrella at Silvermine Arts Center

Joseph Fucigna is featured in Thunder Umbrella at Silvermine Arts Center. The show opens Sunday, February 28, with an artists’ talk on Tuesday, March 15, at 6:00 pm. The show closes Friday, April 8, 2016.

For Thunder Umbrella, curator Chris Joy has selected a number of Guild members and has asked them in turn to chose an artist to curate into the show based on their love of that artist's work and his or her way of exploring materials. “There is no theme per se,” says Jeffrey Mueller, Director of the Silvermine Galleries, “but rather a collection of artists who are exploring the use of recognizable objects or icons in ways that subvert the object's traditional meaning or function.”

Joseph Fucigna, third from left, with Molly Forrest, Ken Scaglia and Bronislava Slagle, and again with Joan Antell at the opening of Thunder Umbrella at Silvermine Art Center

Joseph Fucigna, third from left, with Molly Forrest, Ken Scaglia and Bronislava Slagle, and again with Joan Antell

Joy, an independent curator and producer of Gorky’s Granddaughter, a documentary film project featuring interviews with artists, finds that many of the artists in the show have created their own special material presence or psychological weather. “The weather of the mind,” says Joy, “often comes from subtle use of industrial materials in ingenious juxtapositions with domestic and familiar contexts. There are ironing boards here as well as representations of Jesus, the Grand Prix, and the battlefield. The works seem animated with complicated forces and surrealist situations.” The exhibition focuses on painting, sculpture, and photography. Margaret Roleke gives us scorched earth: the toxic cloud of burnt plastic floats just above Barbie’s head. Or, there may be a more hypnotic storm such as in the work of Robert Calafiore, who presents us with amazing pinhole-camera photos of the most delicate cut glass stacked and blasted with a Photoshop furnace. Susan Manspeizer's works in wood seem as if they have been molded and shaped by the flow of water. In the work of Joseph Madrigal the sculptures themselves seem to act out, and each has comedy and tenderness in equal parts.

“Artists run in packs and see works from very close proximity,” says Chris Joy. “They read with their faces inches away from the work at hand. It's this intense proximity that creates the heat of meaning. This has always been what has been most attractive to me in wanting to participate in artistic dialogue beyond my studio.”

Curator Chris Joy keeps his eye trained on understanding the liberties and freedoms an artist is exploring. “Empathy is a key element,” he explains, “the reason for the liberal arts is to understand another person. In the art world, you can be guided by your tastes, but that can be incredibly limiting. Art can allow you to be constantly expanding, exploring, and renewing yourself.”

Other artists exhibiting work in Thunder Umbrella are Robert Calafiore, Nathan Carris Carnes, Sharon Cavagnolo, Corey Cavagnolo, Cecilia Charlton, Brenda Goodman, Zachary Keeting, Joseph Madrigal, Susan Manspeizer, Christine Rebhuhn, Scott Richter, Bryan Reedy, and Margaret Roleke.

Joseph Fucigna, professor and coordinator of the Fine Arts and Studio Arts Program, is a practicing sculptor who is known for transforming common industrial materials into unique three dimensional abstractions. fucigna.com. Fucigna holds a B.F.A. from Alfred University, and an M.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts. His work has been exhibited throughout Connecticut and New York, and has been awarded many prestigious awards including the Molly and Albert Jacobson Award for Sculpture, the Amidar Award, and the Individual Artist Grant from the CT Commission on the Arts.

Silvermine Arts Center provides experiences that expand the mind, nourish the soul and connect people through the universal language of art. Artists have been drawn to Silvermine since visionary sculptor Solon Borglum moved here in 1908 and established it as a place for artists to gather. The Silvermine Guild of Artists was founded in 1922 and formally incorporated in 1924 when the School of Art was established. Today, the Silvermine Arts Center, a 501(c) (3) organization, is comprised of a Guild of over 300 professional artists, five galleries presenting new exhibitions every six weeks and sponsoring prestigious regional and national competitions; a gift shop; a School of Art providing a wide range of classes for all levels of experience from ages 2 to 102; public programs; and outreach programs in the Norwalk and Stamford schools. Silvermine is the preeminent visual arts center in Fairfield County with more than 4,500 annual enrollments at the School of Art and 12,000 visitors to the award-winning galleries. The center provides its artist members, faculty, students and visitors with a common location where they can share ideas, work on projects, teach, explore new areas and grow in their creativity and talents. The Silvermine Arts Center is supported by membership fees, school tuition, art sales, donations, grants and sponsorship for its many programs. Gallery Hours are Wednesday to Saturday 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm, and Sunday 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Silvermine Arts Center is located at 1037 Silvermine Road, New Canaan, CT. For more information, call 203.966.9700 or visit silvermineart.org.

Joseph Fucigna in Thunder Umbrella at Silvermine Arts Center

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