Gallery 25

GALLERY 25 WILL PRESENT JOAN PALANO CIOLFI’S “25”

Gallery 25 will present a new exhibition featuring the work of oil painter and designer, Joan Palano Ciolfi. An artist reception will take place from 5-7 pm on Friday, November 25 at the gallery located at 25 Union Street, Pittsfield. The exhibit, entitled “25”, will feature a series of festive vintage dress paintings.

Ciolfi‘s paintings are gorgeously expressive oils which push realistic subject matter towards the brink of abstraction; an abandoned building, a summer storm, a red dress. The pieces are vibrant and atmospheric and painted with distinctive rhythms to create dramatic and intriguing renditions of intricate objects and selective landscape elements. Her use of simple images and a powerful interplay of light convey a wonderful sense of stillness and understated beauty.

Ciolfi received a BFA from Southeastern Massachusetts University with a focus on graphic design. She has worked as a textile and wall covering designer for numerous national brands and as a freelance artist for clients throughout the northeast. Her experiences show through in the choices of colors and textures in her work.

Gallery 25 is located across the street from Barrington Stage at 25 Union Street, Pittsfield, MA. Hours are Thursday through Saturday, 12-5PM. More information about the artist may be found on her website: www.joanpalanociolfi.com. “25” is free and open to the public.

“This That Then”

NICHOLAS DE CANDIA SHOWS “THIS THAT THEN” AT GALLERY 25

Nicholas De Candia will show a career-spanning potpourri of photography work at Gallery 25, 25 Union Street, Pittsfield, MA. The exhibit, entitled “This That Then”, will preview on October 20, Pittsfield’s final “3rd Thursday” of the season. An artist reception will be held at the gallery the following week on Friday,October 28, 5-7PM.

Nicholas De Candia was an adjunct photography instructor at Berkshire Community College for 30 years and also taught photography at Southern Vermont College and MCLA. While a photo technician and photographer at The Berkshire Eagle for three and a half years, he had a bi-weekly column called “Window on the Berkshires” in Berkshires Week, a supplement to the Eagle. De Candia was also a photographer at the North Adams Transcript and public relations photographer at Berkshire Medical Center and Hillcrest Hospital.

As a recipient of numerous grants from the Northern Berkshire Cultural Council, De Candia’s projects have included: “To Care,” a photo essay about the Christian Center of Pittsfield, which exhibited at the Berkshire Museum and the State House in Boston; “Facing Berkshires Heritage,” a permanent installation of banner-type photos depicting the life and people of the Berkshires at the Berkshire Atheneum; “First Steps,” a photo essay of the teenage mothers and their children living at Redfield House, Pittsfield; “Helen Duke Has Alzheimer’s Disease,” a photo collage with recorded narrative about Alzheimer’s Disease, shown at Berkshire Community College and various Alzheimer’s support group functions; and “Bittersweet,” a photo montage of patients at Berkshire Medical Center, commissioned by the president of Berkshire Medical Center.

Gallery 25 is located across the street from Barrington Stage, 25 Union Street, Pittsfield, MA. Hours are Thursday through Saturday, 12-5PM and one hour before every Barrington Stage show. “This That Then” is free and open to the public.

“Chute”, photograph. (c)Nicholas De Candia.