55 MERCER GALLERY
55 MERCER STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10013 [212] 226-8513
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: IRENE GENNARO
Mon.-Sat. 10:00- 6:00
[212] 260-1751
IRENE GENNARO
"DREAM CATCH"
OCTOBER 4th - OCTOBER 29th, 2005
In her exhibition of recent work at 55 Mercer Gallery, Irene Gennaro continues to honor the personal dream images that define her signature polychromed and carved wood sculptures. Forty new works offer a unique view of Gennaro's iconic imagery.
In Dream Catch, the artist revisits central themes of her oeuvre: transformed animals; signs; symbols; human body parts and Goddesses inhabit their personal space, each suspended in a patch of sky.
A surreal landscape provides the setting for, A Meeting, where animals that seem distant relatives of wolves have convened. In Persephone Revisited the artist reveals the mythological/spiritual thread that has been evident in the fabric of her work for years. In Nana, Gennaro captures the memory of a grandmother long passed. Sorella, engages a momento mori. The horrific events of 9/11 produced a nightmarish picture Gennaro lived with and later interpreted into a defining symbol.
" 'In dreams,' wrote the American poet Delmore Schwartz 'begin responsibilities.' Nothing could be more illustrative of Schwartz's dictum than Gennaro's treatment of the medium through which she has sought to engage herself and her viewers, that of polychromed or painted wood. " Gerrit Henry [Responsibility of Dreams]
Mythology, history and familial memories are gathered here and each play a part in the visceral dialogue that engages the viewer in an exhibition that will not be easily forgotten.
Irene Gennaro is a second generation carver born in New York City in 1943. She has a degree in Graphic Art. Gennaro has had numerous solo exhibitions including; The Washington County Museum of Fine Art [2002]; The Kentuck Museum [1999]; The Robert Rauschenberg Gallery, Edison College [2002]; Rhode Island School of Design [1998]; Two artists, The Trenton City Museum [2004]. Her work has been chosen to travel for two years with a core group in The 8th International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition, organized by The University of Hawaii [2003-05] In 1999 Gennaro was awarded Polich Art Work's first Bronze Casting Award. The casting, Corrado, pays tribute to her father, Corrado Gennaro, stone carver. Gennaro is represented in Japan by Daiwa Gallery, Gifu City.