GRACE DeGENNARO
NIGHT BLOOM
Online Exclusive Exhibition
October 21 – November 30, 2021
Left: Grace DeGennaro, Night Bloom 7, 2021, Watercolor on black Somerset paper, 30 x 22 inches
Right: Night Bloom 15, 2021, Watercolor on black Somerset paper, 30 x 22 inches
Jason McCoy Gallery is pleased to present NIGHT BLOOM, an exhibition of recent watercolor drawings by Grace DeGennaro.
Part of an ongoing series, these works are characterized by a geometric vocabulary rich in circles, squares, triangles, the vesica piscis and star shapes. Carefully rendered by hand, these images manifest on black Somerset paper, which to DeGennaro serves as a reference both to the collective unconscious and vast night skies, as observed in Maine for example, where she has lived and worked for thirty years.
Grace DeGennaro, Night Bloom 16, 2021, Watercolor on black Somerset paper, 30 x 22 inches
Centered and symmetrical, DeGennaro’s archetypal images succeed in communicating ideas that transcend religion and culture. It is her intention to bridge Eastern and Western thought through ancient uses of pattern, symmetry and iconic symbolism that can be found in traditional forms such as Byzantine mosaics, Indigenous weavings and Tibetan mandalas. Rooted in the process of accretion, each picture plane depicts a deliberate layering of transparent shapes and collections of opaque dots and beads of color that balances a sense of ephemeral delicateness with permanent strength.
DeGennaro explains: “All my pieces share a meditative quality evoking stillness, balance and harmony—the very characteristics that geometric forms seek to awaken. While striving for symmetry and precision in all of my work, each piece is rendered subtly asymmetric by my hand, serving as a reminder to the viewer of our collective humanity.”
Grace DeGennaro (b. 1956) was born in Rockville Centre, NY. She received her MFA in Painting and Sculpture from Columbia University in New York (1986) and her BS in Fine Arts from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY (1978). DeGennaro has recently exhibited her work at Zero Station, Portland, ME (2021); The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY (2021); Cove Street Arts, Portland, ME (2021, 2020 [solo exhibition]); Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME (2019); Kentler International Drawing Space, Brooklyn, NY (2019); The Current, Stowe, VT (two-person exhibition, 2018); The Bundy Modern, Waitsfield, VT (two-person exhibition, 2017), and the Tang Teaching Museum, Saratoga Springs, NY (2017), among many others. Upcoming installations include the Heckscher Museum, Huntington, NY (2022) and Tremaine Gallery, The Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, CT (2022). This is the gallery’s first dedicated presentation of the artist’s work.
