The Alchemy of Light

July 30, 2020 - November 01, 2020

Exhibit Details

When Michelle Gagliano cast aside all toxic materials from her artistic practice in 2018, her work took on another layer of meaning. Gagliano uses natural pigments, oils, and solvents based in nuts, lavender, and handmade gessoes. Her dedication to the arts is synonymous with her dedication to the natural environment. Not only does Gagliano’s artistic practice echo the respect and the wonder that she has for the world, but her methods create ripples that move across time and intersect with the wake left behind by the great masters.

 

Gagliano’s current body of work is based on the palette of Italian artist Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known around the world as Raphael. Through extensive research, Michelle Gagliano has been able to identify ten basic pigments used by Raffaello: ultramarine, lead tin yellow, carmine, vermillion, madder lake, verdigris, ochres, Brazilian lake, metallic gold and metallic bismuth. Her commitment to research transcends her mind and into her paintbrush as she recreates the natural pigments that Raffaello himself would have used.

 

Visitors will be mesmerized by Gagliano’s coalescence of history and contemporary abstraction. Just as Raffaello explored clarity, form, composition, and the grandeur of light as it danced across the surface, so too does Gagliano as she creates contemporary interpretations of landscapes with light reflecting pigments. Her artistic vision has been disseminated globally with her exhibition record spanning from California, to New York, all the way to Italy itself.

The Alchemy of Light: The Work of Michelle Gagliano
July 30 – November 1, 2020
United Company-LeGard Galleries