The next day I went back to give a gallery talk with Joyce and Mary, the curator. This was actually kind of fun, much better for talking about art than the few minutes you get with anyone at opening night. Joyce talked about her paintings and the imagery in them, it’s source, the cacophony of images which are the World, and the Mind. It made me think that what imagery is for painters, material is for sculptors. The myriad and endless supply of that thing from which we produce our work, the World. The materials I work from are found everywhere, cement, bronze, plastic, wood, iron, stone, steel, put to a purpose in the built world; but to give them a character and an expression which is their own, not an only utilitarian one, is art, is sculpture.

Every material brings it own nature that causes what I find to do with it. Wood is the only material that has been alive; it is a kind of flesh. Metal is unyielding, up to  the point it is melted, and then it becomes suddenly pliable liquid. Stone was once liquid and is now crystal, harder than metal, it can only be chipped or ground, and by the simplest tools, hammer, sand, water. Plastic is like room-temperature metal, but can only be formed once, and never reformed again in a liquid, it becomes a soft stone. Clay is almost without an original identity, because it is all materials in one. It is a type of dirt, the earth. Everything else in distilled or mined or grown from it. It is primordial substance. Everything is clay. Clay is to sculpture what abstraction expression is for painting. A material able to express from out of the Mind whatever can be imagined… even the formless.

Here is the press release for my show, “Less is and More”, written by Mary Fortuna, Exhibition Director at Paint Creek Center for the Arts. I like Mary’s interpretation of my working process and I want to thank her for inviting me, and all the hard work she’s put into organizing and promoting this show.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Less is and More
Joyce Brienza and Matthew De Genaro
October 4 – November 1, 2013
Opening Reception Friday, October 4, 7 – 9 pm Gallery Talk Saturday, October
5, 2:00 pm

There are as many approaches to art making as there are artists. There are those who are inspired by a wealth of imagery, pattern, color, symbols, cultural and historical reference, and draw on all these elements to create drawings, paintings, collages or objects. Others are moved to simplify and refine their works, drawing on the Modernist interest in material and process. The one samples from any number of sources and seeks a means of unifying them to create a satisfying whole and convey meaning. The other works and reworks an idea, driven sometimes by the material at hand, sometimes by a working process, applying both to a generalized form that lends itself to repeated exploration and experimentation and abstraction. For this show, we have selected two very different artists who use their own individual approaches to create works that are unmistakably their own.

Joyce Brienza is the “more” of this Less/More equation. She uses a collage technique to sample a rich variety of images, patterns and other elements that carry personal associations that resonate for her, creating her “peculiar brand of hip hop.” The critical element for her is pattern, which serves multiple purposes. In the artist’s words, pattern “…is a reference to traditional “women’s” handiwork and questions the duality of high and low art.  It provides a grid formation that connects the floating elements (information) together.   And finally, it works to disrupt the continuity of the image, placing roadblocks in the way of logic and control.”
Matthew De Genaro produces work that is deceptively simple. He creates endless variations on the human figure, abstracting the essential form. He says, “…sometimes the nature of the material defines the figure, at other times it’s the process of working the material that defines it, and sometimes, the figure dictates the use of material and process.” He has explored his figures in every scale and in every material imaginable, including cast bronze, cast resin, carved wood, stone, fabricated wood and metal, inflated fabric, stacked rubber inner tubes, cardboard, even manipulated living grasses.
Joyce Brienza earned her MFA at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She has exhibited her work in gallery and museum shows all over the United States and in Germany, Argentina and The Netherlands. She teaches art at several schools in the Detroit area, and has participated in artist residencies in New Jersey and at Children’s Hospital in Detroit.

Matthew De Genaro earned his MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums since 1980.
The works of these two artists complement each other, even as their methods and finished artworks are so divergent. They are two long-time Detroit area residents who have applied themselves for many years with a singular dedication to their methods and materials. They both explore their various media with a purpose and confidence that come from long experience and a willingness to experiment with everything at hand. What perhaps joins them, even with all their difference, is a sense of humor and a playful approach. They share the gift of being serious about their work, without taking themselves too seriously.
Please join us in welcoming these two artists at an opening reception on Friday, October 4th at 7:00 pm. We will host a gallery talk with the artists on Saturday, October 5th at 2:00 pm. The opening reception and gallery talk are free and open to the public. Visitors will enjoy an opportunity to meet the artists and gain some insight into their works.

This exhibit is supported by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Kresge Foundation.

PCCA exhibitions are sponsored by Dokka Fasteners, the International Academy of Design & Technology, Rochester Hills Spine Care, Whims Insurance Agency and WiT.

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The mission of Paint Creek Center for the Arts is to enhance life in the region by promoting, encouraging and creating opportunities to participate in and appreciate the arts. Paint Creek Center for the Arts is open Monday through Thursday, 9:00am to 7:00pm, Friday 9:00am – 5:00pm, and Saturday, 10:00am to 4:00pm. PCCA is located at 407 Pine Street in downtown Rochester at the intersection of Pine and Fourth Streets. For information on exhibits, classes, the Art & Apples Festival, special events or volunteer opportunities, call 248-651-4110 or visit
www.pccart.org<http://www.pccart.org/>.

Mary Fortuna
PCCA Exhibitions Director
248.651.4110
www.pccart.org