Joseph Di Bella
Joseph Di Bella , Distinguished Professor of Art, has
taught at the University of Mary Washington since 1977 and received
the Simpson Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1983. He holds a B.A.
in Art History from Rutgers College and an M.A. and an M.F.A. in Painting
from Northern Illinois University. In addition to teaching, Di Bella
served as the Director of the University of Mary Washington Galleries
(1983-1988) and was instrumental in the establishment of the Ridderhof
Martin Gallery. He has served as co-director of the University of Mary
Washington College in Urbino, Italy, since 1994. Di Bella is a member
of the Phoenix Gallery
in New York, the Society of Tempera Painters and is a signature member
of the National Watercolor Society. He has participated in numerous
national and international exhibitions. Di Bella teaches 2D Design,
drawing, painting, color theory, and digital art.
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"Annual visits to Italy are filled with a sense of familiarity and
strangeness intensified with each return. In a way I try to claim a
lost heritage that is too complex for comprehension, something removed
from the present, yet an integral part of my being and thinking. Perhaps
it is in the mesh of cultures, that incomplete synthesis, that I identify.
Particularly in the art and architecture of Sicily, the island of my
ancestors, I see a collision of systems and influences. Ideas for works
stem from my ethnic roots where classical Greek and Roman, Byzantine,
and Arabic traits among others offer richness and paradox.
For these reasons I often set up situations of opposing elements, fields
split in half or images divided. For instance, the Palermitani
are constructions that pin one configuration or design against another
in a tentative hold while the dome above unites them. These are reminders
of portals or Moorish palaces. The Mihrab series alludes to
icon format, windows of different architectural styles and prayer screens.
As with images and patterns I prefer to mix media and techniques. Acrylic,
tempera, dry pigments, colored pencils, solvents and metal powders are
applied layer upon layer with brushes, trowels, scrapers and fabricated
stamps. The computer-based images are layered as well with scanned and
invented images and surfaces." - Joseph Di Bella
The following images are copyrighted and may not be used without the artist's written permission.
Palermitano I-III (2000)
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(Click on an image for a larger view.)
Mihrab VII, VI, & III (2002)
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Finestra I , IV, Untitled (2000)
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Recent Exhibitions
- Group Exhibit, Phoenix Gallery, New York City, NY (January 2003)
- 9/11/01 Remembered , Group Exhibit, Phoenix Gallery, New York City, NY (September 2002)
- Egg Tempera: An Enduring Tradition , International Invitational Travel Exhibition 2002-2003, Kendall Campus Art Gallery of Miami-Dad Community College, Miami, FL (May-June 2002), Mary Washington College Galleries, Fredericksburg, VA (August-October 2002), Wistariahurst Museum, Holyoke, MA (November 2002-January 2003). Curator: Diane Savino, Kendall Campus Art Gallery (Miami, FL).
- Works on Paper 2002, Mid-Atlantic Art Exhibition , d'Art Center, Norfolk, VA (April-June 2002)
- Group Exhibit, Phoenix Gallery, New York City, NY (January 2002)
- Small Works Invitational , 1708 Gallery, Richmond, VA (December 2001)
- Nineteenth Annual Juried Exhibition , Pleaides Gallery of Contemporary Art, New York City, NY (June-July 2001). Juror: Lisa Dennison, Deputy Director and Chief Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (NYC, NY).
- Solo Exhibit (first place award), Phoenix Gallery National Juried Competition, Phoenix Gallery, New York City, NY (June 2001). Juror: Feresheteh Daftari, Assistant Curator of Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Modern Art.
- Solo Exhibt, duPont Gallery, Mary Washington College, Fredericksburg, VA (January-February 2001)
- Back and Forth: Artistic Influences , National Competitive Exhibit, Fredericksburg Center for the Creative Arts, first place award (May-July 2000)
Recent Publications & Reviews
- Parker, Antoinette, " There's Art In the Process, They Say ", MWC Today , Summer 2001. (Review of exhibition Joseph Di Bella: Paintings and Mixed Media Works .)
- Watercolor Expressions , North Light Press, 1999.
- Home is Another Country : Short Stories by Dan Dervin and Illustrations by Josephi Di Bella. Mary Washington College Press, 1998.
- The Best of Watercolor , Rockport Press, 1997.
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