Chris Durante in "05@22", 22 Haviland St. Gallery, Norwalk, CT

© Chris Durante

"5@22" features five artists working in different media at 22 Haviland St. Gallery, in Norwalk, CT. The show opens Thursday, March 29, 2012 with a reception from 5:30 - 8:30 p.m.  The artists are Lori Lohstoeter, Joe Fucigna, Frank Post, Chris Durante, and Mauricio Higuera. The exhibit runs until April 26, 2012.

The gallery's Facebook page is here.

Saturday April 30, and Sunday, May 1: RGOA and SCAN exhibit openings

Saturday, April 30, 2011, Ridgefield Guild of Artists  will begin hosting Continuum: Gender Identities, which will run until June 3, 2011. Our friend, Chris Durante, who is a fine artist, adjunct professor of fine art, and framer, is exhibiting in this group show. 52 artists in various media and representing various points on the continuum are participating. Opening reception 6 - 9 pm Saturday, April 30 at the Ridgefield Guild, 31 Halpin Lane, Ridgefield, CT.

April 30, to May 8, 2011 the Society of Creative Arts of Newtown, CT will be hosting its 41st annual spring juried art show, taking place at the Cyrenius H. Booth Library, 25 Main St., Newtown, CT. The reception is Sunday, May 1, 2 - 4 pm. The chair of the event is client Grace McEnaney. SCAN hosts periodic shows, and monthly meetings that include demonstrations by local and regional artists.

The Mercurial Collective Art Gallery Opening April 30: "Out of the Woodwork"

© Erin Walrath

The Mercurial Collective, a new art gallery in Danbury, CT, is having its grand opening on Saturday, April 30, from 4 - 7 pm. The inaugural show features work-neighbors Erin Walrath, Amanda Bloom and Chris Durante--who each have permanent studios on Library Place, as well as Alec Jordan, Catherine Lucia and David Haislip.

The opening will also feature with live music by String Fingers Band, a fun bluegrass band from Easton who have just released a new CD, Don't Forget. The Mercurial Collective is located at 11 Library Place, Danbury, CT. Also open will be Erin Walrath's studio at 13 Library Place, and Chris Durante's at 9 Library Place. Parking is at the Bardo Garage directly across the street, or at metered spots along Main St.

Their Facebook event page is here.

"Durante / Fucigna" at 22 Haviland Street in Norwalk

"Durante / Fucigna" is an exhibition of collaborative and individual works by Chris Durante and Joe Fucigna at 22 Haviland Street Gallery in South Norwalk, CT.

Both Durante and Fucigna are art professors at Norwalk Community College, and have exhibited extensively. Fucigna's work is mainly sculpture, and his drawings seem to hold volume. Durante's eye is informed by graffiti, comic book art, and found marks, and his line is pure and confident. Their abstract drawings on Claybord feature similar shifting shapes, and the feel is almost juicy. As the works were passed back and forth several times, Durante said that the individual contributions became less recognizable, even to the artists themselves. The distinction between the artists may not always be obvious, but watching the resulting conversation play out on the wall is total eye candy.

The exhibition runs from April 16 to May 30, and there will be an opening reception on Friday, April 16 from 6-9 pm. A talk with the artists will be held on Sunday May 2 at 2 pm.

Silvermine Special Event Friday 2/5

On Friday, February 5, at 6:30 pm at the Silvermine Guild Gallery in New Canaan (quoted from their website):

"Join Silvermine Guild Gallery Director, Jeffrey Mueller and New Guild Members of 2010 for an informal art discussion about the current works on exhibit of the nine new members in the New Guild Members Show."

Rumor has it there will be finger foods, wine, Pellegrino, and dialogue about art, of course.

More about the members' show participants here.

~Lys

Chris Durante exhibiting at Silvermine Guild Arts Center New Members Show; opening Sunday 1/10

© Chris Durante

There will be a New Members show including drawings by Chris Durante at Silvermine Guild in New Canaan, from January 10-February 19. New members inducted in 2009 in this show include Durante, Binnie Birstein, Silas Finch, Robert Gregson, Susan Halls, Linda Kuehne, Yen-Hua Lee, Constance Old, and Bradley Wolman. The inducted artists work in a variety of media--drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, and mixed media. There will be an artists' reception Sunday, January 10, 2-4 pm.

Many of Chris Durante's recent drawings use forms that resemble fibers and viscera, and create (at least in me) a feeling of looking up through holes in a matrix into the dark sky of outer space. Those fluid black lines are charmers. However, Durante has moved out of strictly black-and-white ink drawing to include wild color, soft pencil forms, collage elements, cuts and burn marks, and heavily burnished and multi-layered surfaces that resemble pewter. Durante's keen eye pulls these seemingly unrelated elements together, but it is still his deft hand moving across paper to create meaning.

The Silvermine Guild Arts Center is located at 1037 Silvermine Rd., New Canaan, CT 06840. As a special event, there will be an informal discussion with Gallery Director Jeffrey Mueller and the new members on Friday, February 5, from 6:30-7:30 pm.

Happy looking,

Lys

Chris Durante exhibiting at Fairfield Arts Council, reception Friday 9/25

© Chris Durante

Chris Durante is exhibiting at Fairfield Arts Council from September 25 to November 7 along with Mary Jo McGonagle. Durante's recent abstract drawings combine elements from his earlier comic book inspired pieces. These are fractured and exploded until they no longer resemble their representational forebears. His lines are incredibly fluid; in addition he uses marks that are culled from daily life, like coffee stains, and burns. Those marks are used with equal gravity.

McGonagle's multi-layered, abstract, large-scale images combine painting with monotype. I think the artists are a great pairing, and I'm looking forward to seeing the show.

The reception for this exhibition is Friday, September 25 from 6-8 pm. Fairfield Arts Council is located at 70 Sanford St. Fairfield, CT (near the train station).

There is a brown bag lunch discussion with the artists and curator Laura Einstein on Thursday, October 22 from 12:30-1:30 pm.

Chris teaches drawing at Norwalk Community College, and also owns a framing studio in Danbury. He prepares artwork for many galleries, museums and private collectors in and around the area. He is a Silvermine Guild artist and will be showing there in January.

See you around.

~Lys

Chris Durante at the opening

© Photo by Mark Savoia