Maria G. Pisano of Plainsboro is one of the artists at the newly reopened Rabbet Gallery in New Brunswick. A celebration will be held with a group show on view from Sunday, April 7, through Friday, May 31. An opening reception will be held April 7 from 3 to 5 p.m. at 21 Reed Street, New Brunswick.
The gallery celebrates its 29th year by moving to a 6,500-square-foot space in a vintage New Brunswick building. Workshops and special events begin in April.
The exhibit will showcase artworks by new artists as well as those who have exhibited there over the past 29 years. A variety of media and subject matter including Plainsboro artists Pisano with book arts and Donna Payton with sculpture and drawing.
Pisano’s book works encompass handmade paper, printing, and handbinding. Her works are in numerous private and public collections including the Library of Congress, the American Art Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Princeton University, Harvard University, Stanford University, and the New York Public Library.
Pisano’s book art, “Breathe,” is a response to “The Flower Soul,” a poem by Imogen Brashear Oakley, from the collection “Awake America and Other Verses,” Philadelphia, 1934. “In the poem the ephemeral nature of one’s life, its fragility, its physical manifestations, are likened to flowers in nature, which with their scents, permeate our consciousness and re-awaken our connections,” writes Pisano.
The book, housed in a paste paper wrapper, was designed, printed, and bound by the artist in a limited edition of 20. The text is handset and jointly printed on a Vandercook with Alan Runfeldt.
“My works are an evocative blend of media and paper. These are the origins of my art — the feel and smell of handmade paper, the tactility of the ink on a freshly printed sheet of paper. These are sensory and esthetic manifestations of my art,” says Pisano.
Art Exhibit, Rabbet Gallery, 21 Reed Street, New Brunswick. Sunday, April 7, 3 to 7 p.m. Opening reception for a group show in the new gallery space. On view to May 31. Gallery hours are Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 732-828-5150. www.rabbetinc.com.
