Gina Scalza Exhibits at HVCCA
Gina is one of my students at Ramapo College of New Jersey.
She’s quiet and purposeful. Viewing her work gives you a glimpse of some inner ferocity roiling somewhere below. The Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art chose one of her works to display in the exhibition, Word. Gina is in excellent company exhibiting alongside Ann Hamilton, John Mellencamp and Oscar Murillo.
On View: February 27th – July 31st
HVCCA has a history of exhibitions that feature artists from the international community, some with established careers and stellar reputations as well as those just emerging onto the art stage. ‘WORD’ is HVCCA’s first open call juried exhibition purposed to highlight talented regional artists who prominently feature ‘a word’ or ‘words’ in their artistic productions. Some 140 artists applied and 45 artists were selected. These newer and lesser known works will sit side by side with works of artists such as Beatrice Coron, Dylan Graham (Netherlands), Ann Hamilton (US 1999 Venice Biennale artist), John Mellencamp, Jeffrey Gibson, Laura Kimpton (SLS Miami, Burning Man, California) and Robert Indiana.
Words have appeared historically as artistic forms in illuminated manuscripts, in Arabic text on the walls of mosques and in its mosaic murals, on Chinese calligraphic scrolls. ‘Word’ as contemporary art form has been popularized by contemporary artists Ruche, Wiener, Kruger and Holzer, Anastasi and others. Words have the power to hurt and to heal, to be offered as prayer or diatribe. Some of these ‘word’ facets will be explored in the works presented at the HVCCA. Education programs, word performances and readings by renowned poets Gerald Stern and Cindy Beer Fouhy, will enhance the visual exhibition at the HVCCA.
