The University of Mary Washington Galleries will hold an exhibition, “Virginia Painters: Process Unveiled,” from Thursday, September 4
to Sunday, October 5 in the duPont Gallery. The opening reception will be on Wednesday, September 3 from 5 to 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Seven Virginia artists, including Joseph Di Bella, distinguished professor of art at UMW, will display works that represent how they have been influenced by the camera, the computer or both.
The exhibition illuminates the process of painting and how the use of the camera and computer inspires, aids and improves an artists’ work. The show is based on an exhibition held earlier this year at the Rawls Museum in Courtland, Va.
Di Bella uses photographs of casualties of the Iraq war to create realistic portraits of the soldiers. He began this series as a way to think about his own son serving in the war.
Other artists in the exhibition are:
• Daniel Calder of Richmond, who at age 35, saw the first photograph of his father and began using the moment as a way to explore meanings of identity with abstractions of pig iron
• R.J. Clark of Virginia Beach who uses actual photographs in his work, as well as photorealistic and tromp l’oeil techniques
• Sara Clark of Richmond who manipulates and alters topographic images taken from scientific cameras to create new images of her own
• Peter Geiger of Portsmouth, Joan Marie Giampa of Vienna and Farida Hughes of
Chatham who use the computer to edit and manipulate images to create their art.
The gallery, located at College Avenue at Thornton Street, is open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. Free parking is designated for gallery visitors in a lot across College Avenue at Thornton Street. For more information about the exhibition, visit the University Galleries Web site at www.umw.edu/umwgalleries or contact the galleries at (540) 654-1013.