Two Exhibits Showcase Contemporary Italian Art

An example of artwork by Michele G i u s e p p e R o m o l o Brunetti. Universitas Civium Oratino, the Cultural Association for the Molise Region in America, has sponsored two exhibits of contemporary art at the Buzzeo Gallery, 31-16 36th Ave., Long Island City.

The first was an all-female exhibit entitled Nel Regno della Fantasia, or In the Realm of Fantasy, featuring Italian artist Bianca Peracchi, in her New York City debut, along with American artists Diana Delgado and Angela Baldridge. The exhibit was open to the public on Saturday, March 3. Close to 100 people visited the gallery and both wrote and spoke words of praise and encouragement to the three artists.

Bianca Peracchi, who comes from the Molise region of Italy, received a degree in architecture with honors from the University of Florence in 1976. She designs and creates bijoux- imaginative, colorful, theatrical necklaces- and has exhibited throughout Italy and Europe. In this exhibit, Bianca showcased small collections of bijoux made with non-precious materials--copper and brass with imitation stones and semi-precious stones, crystals, and enamel/glaze- rigorously made by hand using a variety of techniques.

Visitors at the Buzzeo Gallery examine pieces of bijoux made with nonprecious materials by Bianca Peracchi as part of the Nel Regno della Fantasia exhibit. Free from the requirements of precious materials, the costume jewelry in Peracchi's collections shines on its own merits and speaks to the potential creativity of the design and its colors to interpret the bizarre caprice of the composition. Bijoux is by definition exaggerated. It can be elegant and irreverent, but always fun to wear, a real "false jewel", on the contrary, very precious. The subject of a magical voyage by seduction and enchantment of the imagination, bijoux, according to Peracchi, is the emblem of modern social aesthetics.

Diana Delgado received her BFA from Syracuse University in 2005 and will receive an MFA from University of the Arts in Philadelphia in December 2007. Delgado has exhibited nationally and internationally, including shows in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and Sitges in Barcelona, Spain. Her studio practice consists of a range of mixed media, from steel to traditional stretchedcanvas paintings, making reference to the figure, nature/natural processes, personal narrative, and Abstract Expressionism.

(L. to r.): Angela Baldridge, Bianca Peracchi and Diana Delgado. In an attempt to convey the inevitability of change in all that is found in nature, Delgado uses process to expose the literal history of the painting. She uses a range of materials and painterly techniques to achieve a sense of atmosphere in her abstract environments. Personal experience and her interest in biological processes and birds inform her studio practice. She attended Ox-Bow School of Art, affiliated with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and she received the Augusta Hazard Painting Award from Syracuse University in 2005.

Angela Baldridge is an artist from New Mexico. She received her BFA from University of New Mexico in 2004 and will receive an MFA from University of the Arts in Philadelphia in December 2007. Her work involves the morphing of natural and unnatural materials to create or illustrate relationships that may or may not have existed prior to the making of the object.

Baldridge has shown work in the W.I.P. Show at the University of the Arts in August 2005 and August 2006. Her last solo exhibition was at the Yale Art Center in April 2005. She has been awarded the Rome Summer Studies Scholarship in 2004 and the Whited Foundation Fine Arts Scholarship in 2005 and 2006.

The second exhibit, Capriccio Legnoso, or Caprice in Wood, features the talented nonagenarian Michele Giuseppe Romolo Brunetti, who immigrated to the United States from Oratino in Molise in Italy in 1958. The exhibit was open to the public on Saturday, March 10 from 1 to 6 p.m. The opening reception was on Sunday, March 11 from 2 to 6 p.m. and the exhibit is on view to March 17 by appointment only.

In America, Brunetti lived and worked as a master carpenter, constructing and designing fine furniture, cabinets, stage settings and window displays for many leading New York department stores. In 1970, he realized his dream of becoming an artist and created intricate and unique art using woods of all kinds- ebony, ash, oak, walnut, mahogany and poplar.

Brunetti's masterpieces demonstrate the point of refinement, degree of definition and design originality that can be achieved with woodcarving. Brunetti's love of nature and for life itself is evident in his work. is a cultural association, not only for immigrants from Oratino, as the name would suggest, but also for Italian- Americans, Americans with Italian roots, and anyone else interested in the rich culture of Italy. The phrase "Universitas Civium Oratino" was coined in the 17th century in Oratino in the Molise region of Italy and referred to the civic union of the Oratinese community. The historic name has been chosen to once again unite people from the groups mentioned who live in the Northeastern United States. Moreover, this name symbolizes a high-level initiative to promote, spread, and celebrate the rich culture and tradition of Italy, highlighting the not-so-well-known region of Molise.

Upcoming events include an Italian wine tasting session; the changing look and taste of lasagna from one region of Italy to the next; the making of tiramisu, and an early summer soccer/picnic event.

For more information about the exhibits or about Universitas Civium Oratino and its events, contact Alfredo Brunetti, founder and president, at 718.429.3213 or e-mail univcivoratino@ aol.com.