The freeways are a huge part of our lives here in Southern California and getting to be more so with new overpasses, carpool lanes and throughways being built each year as an attempt to alleviate some of the congestion. I don't know that Caltrans can keep up with our population explosion, it takes far too long to erect something of this scale while trying to keep commuters commuting.
I digress though... this post is about an exhibition, an exhibition that is representative of a snapshot portrait of Southern California. It was an open call to artists from the Oceanside Museum of Art with the lure of a year long exhibition that travels to three venues, Oceanside Museum, Riverside Museum and the Salone d’Ingresso of Il Palazzo della Provincia di Frosinone. That's right, the show launches in Italy!
Of 900 works by 335 artists, 50 artworks were selected by a panel of 4 curators. "Overpass No. 5" 30x30" Reductive Woodblock Monoprint was accepted to show and travel until next July. The Italian leg of the journey has started and the exhibition will open October 4th and run through the 28th, Then the work is crated and shipped back to the states for an opening in Oceanside in December 2014.
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| OPS No. 5 ©2014 Nicole Strasburg |
Our Italian Host
Alfio Borghese, Gallery Director of Il Palazzo della Provincia di Frosinone, has been acclaimed throughout Italy for over 40 years as art critic, curator, film director and journalist. He serves as artistic director of the Festival of Contemporary Visual Arts sponsored by the City and the Province of Frosinone and frequently curates prominent exhibitions throughout Italy. Since 2012 Borghese has served as president and curator of the Biennale di Frosinone, Anagni and Alatri.
A member of one of Italy’s most prominent noble families founded in 1266, Borghese has produced hundreds of live theatrical performances, in addition to a distinguished series of films and documentaries featuring the most important European artists, writers and political figures of the twentieth century.
Exhibition Venue
California Dreaming: An International Portrait of Southern California is privileged to exhibit in the grand Salone d’Ingresso of Il Palazzo della Provincia di Frosinone for the month of October 2014.
Located 56 miles (90 kilometers) southeast of Rome’s Villa Borghese, Il Palazzo della Provincia di Frosinone was constructed in the 1930’s by architect and sculptor Giovanni Jacobucci. Designed in the neoclassical style, the monumental structure dominates the Piazza Antonio Gramsci with its immense proportions. The grandeur of the Palazzo’s Salone d’Ingresso is enhanced by a majestic double staircase leading to the upper levels of the structure, which house the provincial offices of Frosinone and a permanent collection of artworks by notable artists including abstract sculptor Umberto Mastroianni and mannerist painter Giuseppe Cesari, instructor of Caravaggio during the late 16th century.
Just in case you can't rush off to Italy, there will be two opportunities to see the show in Southern California.
Palazzo della Provincia di Frosinone, Frosinone, Italy, October 4 – 28, 2014
Oceanside Museum of Art, Oceanside CA, December 6, 2014 – March 29, 2015
Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA, April 21 – July 5, 2015
