John Avelluto: Use-a the Forza, Mamaluke!
October 19 – November 18, 2018
Reception: Friday, October 19, 2018, 7-9 PM
Artist talk: Saturday, November 3, 2018, 3-5 PM
Gallery hours: Saturdays and Sundays 12:00-5:00 PM
Stand4 Gallery and Community Art Center is pleased to present an exhibition of new paintings by John Avelluto.
Avelluto’s work is complex in both cultural re-appropriation and process. Playing with the cultural plasticity as a first generation immigrant of Italian descent, Avelluto weaves a new narrative that is entirely his own, but inclusive of the complicated identity of first generation immigrants, a group that finds themselves between two worlds.
Avelluto’s imagery incorporates Italian history and pervasive American pop culture, in this case Star Wars and the masked visage of Darth Vader. Using paint to create an object, Avelluto’s process reflects and becomes a physical manifestation of his bifurcated experience. The painting process takes his cultural origins and re-imagines them via cutting and assembly to produce a collaged facsimile made entirely of paint. This labor intensive process adds value and new possibilities to the original image, bringing us into the realm of art.
Our Nation’s history has been culturally and economically enhanced with the added value of the labor and innovation of its immigrants, yet they continually find themselves at an impasse into the realm of the “Real American”. In Use-a the Forza, Mamaluke! Avelluto elevates this experience, reminding us of the tenuous welcome we give to newcomers and the extreme benefit we get from their inclusion.
The exhibition will be on view from October 19 through November 18, 2018. An artist reception will be held on Friday, October 19, 2018, from 7-9 PM. The artist will also present an artist talk about his work on Saturday, November 3, 2018, starting at 3 PM.