Gianna Putrino
Face Forward
3 July - 25 July 2015
Opening Reception : July 3rd | 6-9 PM
About the exhibition:
Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts is pleased to announce an exhibition with emerging Binghamton artist, and recent SUNY Oswego graduate, Gianna Putrino. Putrino is the recipient of the 2014 Fredrick R. Xlander Emerging Artist Award, 2014 Community Foundation for South Central New York and the Broome County Arts Council Artist Fund Grant, the 2014 Robert M. Sullins Studio Award, and the 2014 Al Bremmer Award. She is currently working at the Roberson Museum and Science Center in Binghamton and interning at Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts, and looking ahead to further her studies with an MFA in Studio Art.
FACE FORWARD will feature Putrino's two recent series of large scale portraits. Her first series, ANXIETY was a group of self-portraits interacting with clenched hands, and expressions taking up questions of anxiety, identity and self analysis. Her current IDENTITY series is a group of large scale, cropped, portraits of her friends and peers, focusing on gestures of the mouth and lips, bringing attention to the identity and self-perception of her peers at their transitional age into adulthood.
Her inspiration comes from her love of the human body and her obsession with detail in realism. While referencing from photographs, she is able to explore a more personal and psychological element through a realistic and representational approach.
Artist Statement :
My work relates to humanity and the human psyche; gaining inspiration from different human conditions and the concept of identity, I compose drawings of a haunting realism. I have always had a passion for analyzing the human body and using body language to convey messages and emotions. I began to explore the emotion of anxiety by focusing on hands and mouths, both expressive areas of the human body. The inspiration behind this imagery and concept is a self-investigation into my habit of nail biting, reflecting on my own identity as an anxious person.
My new Identity series steps away from my own internal exploration to discover the identities and self-perceptions of my peers. Through my interviews and photo sessions with other young adults, we discuss this transitional time into adulthood, how they currently define themselves, and how they want to be perceived. The resulting drawings arrived out of an intimate dialog and self-discovery for both the subject and artist.
