Maria G. Pisano of Plainsboro has opened a new art gallery in New Hope. The MGP Studio Arts Gallery located at 430 Union Square features “Facades,” an exhibit of Pisano’s art including prints, photographs, and handmade paper works based on her trips to Italy. It will be on view through Thursday, July 7. ##M:[more]##
“Visual and structural patterns found in architecture, within nature and one’s culture, are recurring themes in my work,” says Pisano about the exhibit. “We build structures to protect that which is within, to hide, conceal, and transform. The resulting landscape is one of continual flux where the colors, the patterns, the wear and tear, all speak of time, memory, and history captured on the faces of everyday walls and everyday people.”
Designed on a European model, the gallery is both an exhibit space and the artist’s studio. It is here that you can see Pisano binding some of her books for Memory Press. She will also offer classes for children and adults and sell blank journals, artist books, and handmade greeting cards.
Her son, Michael Pisano, a graduate of High School North, 2004 will be at the gallery this summer. As artist in residence he will be creating new works and be available to do commissioned portraits.
Pisano has been making prints, photographs, and handmade paper works for the past 40 years. She publishes her limited edition artist’s books under the Memory Press imprint. Her works are in numerous private and public collections including the Library of Congress, the American Art Museum, and National Portrait Gallery, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, and the New York Public Library, and the University of Alberta. Some of her works can be seen at the Book Arts website: www.philobiblon.com.
She has had articles published in book arts publications including Tabaellae Ansatae and Dog Eared Magazine. Her work is featured in a number of books including Making Memory Books by Hand by Krista Feliciano and Digital: Printmaking Now published by the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
She has taught at Rutgers Mason Gross, the Center of Book Arts in New York, and Oklahoma Arts Institute. She was recently artist in residence at Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas. This summer she will curate “The Elements: Creative Energy” at the Hunterdon Museum of Art in Clinton.
Gallery hours are Wednesday to Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For information call 215-862-9690. Among the gallery’s upcoming workshops:
“Flag Book,” a one-day workshop for ages seven and up to create flag designs and bind them into a flag book. Also, Wednesday, August 10. Register. $30. Wednesday, July 6, 10:30 a.m. to noon.
“Celebrating Pop-Ups,” a one-day workshop for ages seven and up to create an assortment of pop-ups. Also, Wednesday, August 17. Register. $30. Wednesday, July 13, 10:30 a.m. to noon.
“Journal Keeping,” a one-day workshop for ages seven and up to create sewn journal and fill it with imaginary tales and drawings. Register. $25. Wednesday, July 20, 10:30 a.m. to noon.
“Poetry and Art,” a four-day workshop for ages seven and up brings writing poetry, collage, drawing, and making prints together in your own book. Register. $150. Monday to Thursday, July 25 to 28, 10:30 a.m. to noon.
The gallery also offers workshops in book arts.
Miniature Books. Workshop using traditional and experimental book structures in an assortment of techniques. Register. $75. Thursday, July 7, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Carousel Books. Workshop using three-dimensional panoramic scenes revealed in multilayered openings. Register. $75. Thursday, July 21, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Book Binding Basics. Workshop with information on types of papers, adhesives, folding, sewing techniques, and the important and use of jigs. Register. $75. Saturday, July 30, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
