Art Talk on TEXT ME Art Exhibition Opening

An Art Talk featuring three local artists whose works are featured in the current “Text Me” exhibition about words and images at the Pierro Gallery of South Orange will take place at the Gallery on Wednesday, February 15^th from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. The Pierro Gallery is located at the Baird Center at 5 Mead Street in South Orange.

Gallery Co-Curators Stephanie Damiano and Mahmoud El-Behairy, graduate students of Seton Hall University’s Museum Professions program, will moderate the Art Talk. The three artists, Catherine Delett, Betsy Meyer-Donadio, and Ann Vollum, will discuss their work in “Text Me” and how including text with images inspires them to make their artwork.

Catherine Delett, Inspired by Matisse cutouts and the  illustrations of Eric Carle and Ezra Jack Keats   created a series of painted wood blocks depicting rabbits collaged onto random texts that can be read individually or combined with other phrases to create a story.

Betsy Meyer-Donadio has combined disrepaired vintage books with loose pages, old stamps, and paint to create collages. The individual collages, when shown together, reference the form and flow of the books they come from, and the artist’s works echo the way we see the world.

Ann Vollum created mythical beasts that appear in three books, “The Beastly Three” (where she added text), “The Ogre Downstairs” (a book written by Diana Wynne Jones), and “Wakarukaruka” (which contains words and phrases in English and Swahili). Growing up overseas inspired Ann to use her knowledge of Africa, Pakistan and India in creating the mythical beasts that inhabit her work.

The Pierro Gallery of South Orange (PGOSO), which was founded in 1994, presents the work of diverse, established, and emerging visual artists in a non-commercial, user-friendly environment. The Gallery, through its programs and exhibitions, enhances the cultural environment of South Orange and the surrounding communities. The programs at PGOSO are made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council of the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment of the Arts, the Village of South Orange Department of Recreation and Cultural Affairs, individual donations, and corporate sponsors. PGOSO is a facility of the South Orange Department of Recreation and Cultural Affairs.

PGOSO is open from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm Mondays through Thursdays or by appointment. For more information please contact Sandy Martiny, the Director of Cultural Affairs, atsmartiny@southorange.org.