May 6, 2009

Nancy Pirri




Artist Nancy Pirri sculpts women from clay that evoke lost histories and mythic pasts. Focusing on traditional classical female forms, Pirri brings the curvaceous nature of the female body forward, creating works that are both sensual and enticing. The artist uses a variety of thickly applied glazes with rough and uneven textures. The forms are sometimes truncated and given torn edges and distressed surfaces to create a sense of rawness and antiquity. Her newest work transfers these classical images into painterly applications on classic vessel-forms.


Pirri references the sculptural and vessel-form vernaculars of many disparate cultures in her worldly women. Evoking the past through the uses of fragmented forms and rich surfaces, the women are vaulted into archtypes of noble strength and timeless beauty, like the venerated icons of a goddess cult, or portrayals of a long-lost empress-queen. Ceramic is a medium paradoxically having both seeming fragility as well as a lasting durability that can outlive the cultures that produce it. By harkening to the forms of the past, Nancy Pirri gives her own work the durable strength and the regal power of the best examples of classical sculptures and vessels.


You can see Nancy's work at her website:
NPGraphx.com

and at an upcoming exhibit this month:

'Serene La Femme' ~ Celebrating the Female Form

This collection of work is a contemporary twist on the timeless beauty of the female form as a muse, featuring innovative techniques in platinum photography by Ted Preuss, ceramic methods and figurative sculpture by Audry Cramblit and Nancy Pirri, and paintings by Mary Qian.

Show will exhibit for 10 days.

A percentage of sales will be donated to Chicago’s Union League Civic & Arts Foundation.

Where: The Palette & Chisel ~ 1012 North Dearborn • Chicago, IL 60610 (map it)

Opening Reception: Friday, May 29, 2009 • 6 to 10pm

Open House: Saturday, May 30, 2009 • 1 to 6pm

Closing Reception: Sunday, June 7, 2009 • 2 to 6pm

UnTwelve Concert: Saturday, June 6, 2009 - 8:00pm ~ UnTwelve ensemble featuring special guest guitarist Dante Rosati.

JASON MESSINGER MERCHANDISE