Bannister Gallery 2015-16 Exhibitions

Amy Montali: Selections from Volume IV 

• September 3–October 2, 2015

Amy Montali, RIC associate professor of art, presents a selection of new, large-scale color photographs, many of which were created during her spring 2014 sabbatical. This exhibition represents the public debut of Montali’s widely-anticipated “Volume IV,” her latest series of cinematic, psychologically-charged photographs.

Montali produces images through performative improvisation, borrowing techniques from her background in filmmaking, theater and dance. A rotating collective of friends and acquaintances collaborate in the process and appear repeatedly in each new series. She views the photographs as études or stanzas that are momentarily performed, rather than documents or portraits. This approach invites viewers to explore their personal expectations and desires.

Montali’s works emphasize individual, private psychologies within expansive but seemingly ordinary landscapes. The artist considers the broad spaces between the epic and the mundane.

Montali has exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the U.S. Her photographs are held in many private and public collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and have been published in “The Photo Review,” “Art New England” and the “Boston Globe.” She is represented by critically-acclaimed Gallery Kayafas in Boston.

This exhibition is supported, in part, by the RIC Faculty Research Committee.

Robert Dilworth: Memories of Inhabited Spaces 

• October 13–November 13, 2015

"Memories of Inhabited Spaces" explores the creative process of contemporary artist Robert Dilworth. The traveling exhibition features large-scale, mixed-media paintings of human figures, sculptural dolls, and abstraction on paper. The work is informed by conversational interviews with friends, stories collected from relatives and personal observations.

The exhibition focuses on Dilworth's current phase of creativity evolving from a three-year exploration of tactile surfaces that incorporate mixed media. Dilworth's work expands the concept of contemporary painting by including stenciling, spray paint, stitching, fabric and printed materials.

Organized by Rhode Island College and the Bannister Gallery, "Memories of Inhabited Spaces" is accompanied by an exhibition catalogue.

Rhode Island College 2-D Faculty Exhibition 

• December 2015

The Annual Faculty Exhibition offers an opportunity for the community to experience first-hand the artistic talent that is in residence at Rhode Island College. These faculty artists are integral to the current aesthetic and conceptual dialogues present in our studio art department. Their practices include research-based and interdisciplinary methods that are at the core of contemporary art. RIC’s faculty artists exhibit widely and receive prestigious awards, grants, fellowships, and residencies. As a result, they encourage students by their example to think across boundaries. Collectively, these distinguished, award-winning artists bring a unique vision to the region’s cultural tapestry.

Mara Metcalf and Maria Napolitano: If It’s Not You, It’s Me 

• January 21–February 12, 2016

Two individuals interested in a common subject and presenting different perspectives arrived at via their unique viewpoints and artistic processes - this is the core of "If It's Not You, It's Me." 

Attracted to the schematic arranging and rearranging of images, signs and colors, Maria Napolitano is interested in the order, beauty and mystery of the natural world and the fragile connections between nature and human existence. Napolitano's works present various found objects seen through minimalist-inspired senses of space, color and composition, allowing for a dialogue between her subject matter and imagination. 

Everyday shadows inspire Mara Metcalf's works. Chronicling these fleeting and marginalized natural moments, Metcalf literally and metaphorically builds up her compositions using ink, acrylic and collage on paper and Pellon (a type of fabric), creating "elusive associations." 

"If It's Not You, It's Me" juxtaposes the works of two artists who find inspiration in nature but come to uniquely individual conclusions through diverse backgrounds and processes.

RISCA Fellowship Exhibition 

• February 23–March 25, 2016

The exhibition presents artists who have recently attended residency fellowship programs funded by the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, featuring work produced while having time devoted solely to art.​​​ 

Fellowships encourage the creative development of artists by enabling them to set aside time to pursue their work and achieve specific creative and career goals. Fellowships are highly competitive awards. Artists are encouraged to apply when they have created a substantial body of work that they are prepared to present in a professional manner.

Juan Ormaza: Chronicles 

• April 7–29, 2016

"The first time it was reported that our friends were being butchered there was a cry of horror. Then a hundred were butchered. But when a thousand were butchered and there was no end to the butchery, a blanket of silence spread. 

"When evil-doing comes like falling rain, nobody calls out 'stop!' 

"When crimes begin to pile up they become invisible. When sufferings become unendurable the cries are no longer heard. The cries, too, fall like rain in summer." 

- Bertolt Brecht 

My work is driven by intellectual curiosity and an internal necessity to see art as a form of subjective dissent. "Chronicles" is an ongoing series begun in 2002. The work presented in this exhibition is based on information about the physical and emotional destruction afflicted on innocent people in war zones in the last 13 years. Through these works I am creating a personal narrative, not as an illustration of events, but as a fictional weaving - a way to tell stories that provide emotional experiences for the viewer. I want to identify what makes us equal, what makes us feel the same, what makes us dream together. I want to stimulate a dialogue that takes place more through a sensory experience than through the frame of reason. The work in this exhibition is stimulated by Kathe Kollwitz's work. I ask myself, where are the children and the mothers in these wars? I remember Leon Golub and his series of paintings and drawings, "Interrogations and Goya," and his illustrations on the moral dilemmas of war. We know there are new Guernicas today. 

- Juan Ormaza 

Annual Senior Exhibition 

• May 5–19, 2016

The annual senior exhibition is an opportunity for undergraduate students to demonstrate their many talents in the various studio disciplines offered at Rhode Island College. All of the featured student artists have worked under the guidance of faculty who challenge the aspiring artists to create an art that explores original content and develops the skills and techniques for informed studio practice. The professional programs of the Department of Art prepare students to engage the art world in a manner mindful of artistic traditions while focusing on developing an individual voice.