Paul Rusconi Self Portrait, 2015, Nail enamel and acrylic on plexiglas, 42 x 32 in., Courtesy of the artist. Photo by: Joshua White/JWPictures.com
Artist Paul Rusconi will lecture and his work will be on exhibition from April 1-30 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. This show has been extended through May 7.
The exhibition, “Paul Rusconi: Emanations,” is composed of paintings of artists who have transformed their fields. Subjects include Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari, Agnes Martin and Chuck Close. It is presented by the UAB College of Arts and Sciences’ Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts, and curated by AEIVA Director Lisa Tamiris Becker.
Rusconi’s investigation and interest in the portrait begins with his own photo-based images as well as found or sourced materials. This body of work is a process of hand-applying nail polish onto Plexiglas. His concern with the portrait is not only the conveyance of likeness but also the subtlety of emotion and expression that is found somewhere between the light and shadow of one’s face.
An opening reception for the exhibition is set for 6-8 p.m. Friday, April 1, in AEIVA, 1221 10th Ave. South. The reception is preceded by the artist’s lecture, “Emanations: The Radiation of Language” at 5 p.m., in AEIVA’s Hess Family Lecture Hall.
Rusconi is the juror for the 40th annual Juried Student Annual, which features works by students in the UAB Department of Art and Art History. The selected works for the Juried Student Annual will be on exhibition in an adjacent AEIVA gallery. The UAB Department of Art and Art History and the Friends of the Department of Art and Art History sponsor Rusconi’s lecture.
Closely observing the surface of Rusconi’s portraits, one can see that his works are composed of patterns that recall the Benday dots of Roy Lichtenstein, Tamiris Becker says. Unlike Lichtenstein’s use of the Benday dot, which is uniform in size, Rusconi uses different-sized dots to create the illusion of convex and concave shapes on a two-dimensional surface.
Paul Rusconi Untitled (Bill), 2015, Nail enamel and acrylic on Plexiglas, 71 x 96 in. overall (diptych), Collection of the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts, UAB Gift of Caroline D. Taylor, Photo by: Joshua White/JWPictures.comWorks by Rusconi are included in many private collections and public art institutions, including the AEIVA, The Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, The Jumex Foundation, The Batonga Foundation, The Castilla Foundation, The Carnegie Art Museum and The White House.
The exhibition features a major work, “Untitled (Bill),” recently gifted to AEIVA’s permanent collection. This potent diptych features two subtle, yet powerful, portraits of seminal video artist Bill Viola. Composed of glowing blue and green nail polish dots, the double portraits are tonally reversed and mirror images of each other — ghost-like emanations that seek to capture both the likeness and the soul of this enigmatic artist.
The exhibition “Paul Rusconi: Emanations” is supported in part by AEIVA’s generous members.
For more information, call 205-975-6436 or visit www.uab.edu/aeiva. AEIVA is open to the public 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 12-6 p.m. Saturday. It is closed Sundays and holidays.