Stunning photos, colorful collages at ASU Gammage

March 24, 2011

Stunning photos and colorful geometric collages will share gallery space at ASU Gammage April 8-May 8.<separator></separator>Featured will be photographs by Frank Serafini and mixed-media collages by Tony DiRienzi.<separator></separator>Serafini has titled his portion of the show “Landscape Images of the Colorado Plateau.” For the past 25 years, he has been photographing throughout the Southwest, and around the world.<separator></separator>He is a juried member of the Sonoran Arts League and Arizona Arts Alliance, and is an award-winning children’s author and illustrator.<separator></separator>Serafini has published a series of non-fiction picture books with Kids Can Press titled “Looking Closely.” The series focuses on natural habitats such as desert, forest, shore, pond, rainforest and garden.<separator></separator>Serafini, who lives in Scottsdale and is an associate professor of literacy education and children’s literature at ASU, said he makes minimal changes to his photos, using Photoshop and Lightroom. “I believe that if you need to work for more than five or 10 minutes on an image in your computer, you should have taken a better image in the first place. I hope that my image processing procedures bring out the feelings and emotions I felt when I initially captured the image.”<separator></separator>DiRienzi will exhibit mixed media collages on stretched canvases, created with paper, fabric, acrylic resin, dry pigments and oil paint. He has been an artist for 50 years, starting when he was 8 years old and introduced to jewelry-making in elementary school.<separator></separator>He earned degrees and studied at Temple University and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and during an apprenticeship with Wesley Emmons Studio.<separator></separator>DiRienzi also has taught art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Drexel University and Fleischer Art Memorial. In 1993, he was invited to create a one-of-a--kind Christmas tree ornament for the White House collection. Also that year, he designed a sterling silver presentation piece for Wolfgang Sawallisch, music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra.<separator></separator>The artist said his process for making collages is “direct, immediate and physical: I cut, rip, push, pull and rub the materials; their tactile qualities ignite my memory.”<separator></separator>“My collages are multi-layered compositions that I structure like geologic strata,” he said. “Each successive layer has its individual identity, but all are connected by common colors and shapes.”<separator></separator>Exhibit hours at ASU Gammage are 1 to 4 p.m., Mondays, or by appointment. Due to rehearsals, event set-up, performances, special events and holidays, it is advisable to call (480) 965-6912 or (480) 965-0458 to ensure viewing hours, since they are subject to cancellation without notice. Parking is available at meters around the perimeter of ASU Gammage. Entrance is at the East Lobby Doors at the Box Office.<separator></separator>For more information about the show, or to make an appointment, call (480) 965-6912.

Arts