New Exhibit Opens September 13, 2018 At The Housatonic Museum Of Art
Drip Drop, Tick Tock By Joseph Fucigna
Housatonic Museum of Art 900 Lafayette Blvd., Bridgeport, CT 06604
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Laura Roberts, 203-273-2218
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (June 15, 2018) The Housatonic Museum of Art presents a new exhibition, “Drip Drop, Tick Tock” by regional artist, Joseph Fucigna. The show focuses on sculptures from the on-going Plastic Fencing Series created in the last 14 years. With his sculptures Fucigna enjoys taking modest industrial materials and transforming them into elegant yet provocative abstractions that speak about the inherent qualities of the material, process, craft and time. The exhibition opens on September 6 with a reception to be held on Thursday, September 13 from 5:30–8:00pm.
Fucigna is a multi-media artist whose work has consistently been rooted in process, play and the innate qualities of the materials used. Through experimentation and innovation, he creates sculptures that are known for their power to transform common industrial materials, inventiveness and odd but suggestive subject matter. The work included in this exhibition are selections from the Plastic Fencing Series with a focus on the new Plastic Drip Series.
The inspiration for Fucigna’s Plastic Drip Series came from the fluid and dripping qualities of silicone hand therapy putty or more commonly known as Silly Putty. Through labor-intensive construction Fucigna translates the plastic and metal fencing into sculptures that create the illusion of fluid organic forms flowing down a wall. His most recent sculpture “Red, White Drape Drip” also includes the representation of drapery into his sculptural vocabulary. Fucigna is also creating a new site-specific installation that uses the silicone putty as a sculptural material rather than just an influence. For Fucigna, creating an object of possibilities that balances suggestive content and the formal qualities of the material is the ultimate goal.
“Joe Fucigna’s sculptures seem to be an attempt to experience the notion of time itself. Some works melt and drip on the walls and floors, actively changing from moment to moment or he constructs monumental static pieces that represent single moments-- a drop frozen in time,” said Robbin Zella, Executive Director of the Housatonic Museum of Art. “Using ordinary materials, like orange vinyl construction fencing, he offers up cheerful and chunky works that exert a power over and instill a fascination in the viewer.”
The exhibition will be on view through October 25 and this will be the museum’s first solo showing of Fucigna’s work. The artist will offer a talk at the Housatonic Museum of Art on Tuesday, October 2nd in the gallery at 1pm. The Housatonic Museum of Art is located on the Housatonic Community College campus at 900 Lafayette Blvd in Bridgeport.
Joseph Fucigna lives and works in Weston, Connecticut. An art professor at Norwalk Community College and Chair of the Studio Arts Program, Fucigna holds a B.F.A. from Alfred University, and an M.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts. His work has been exhibited throughout the Northeast and New York and he is a 2018 recipient of an Individual Artist Fellowship from the CT Commission on the Arts.