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PRESS
RELEASE: June-July 1998
In June and July Second Street Gallery will feature the works of Jennifer Ditacchio. Ditacchio is a graduate of the Putney School and Bennington College. She received her M.F.A. in 1997 from Yale University where she was awarded the Blair Dickinson Memorial Prize. In her work, Ditacchio is concerned with the plasticity of painting while exploring form and content. Inspired by urban and natural landscapes, her paintings suggest shapes and forms that evoke mood and trigger memories. For Ditacchio her paintings are psychological and spiritual journeys. They not only present pictorial landscapes but offer openings into states of consciousness. She says of them, "My goal as an artist is not only to continue [my] personal search for understanding, but also to offer an experience which brings the viewers to a new state of awareness. One that will potentially help them on their own search." Ditacchio's paintings are large, spare and elegant. She paints on wood panels which are often arranged in groups of two or more. Recently, her paintings have become more sculptural and some are freestanding. She paints objects such as fencing, vertical bars and veiling in the foreground. Her abstract landscapes appear behind these elements which allow for spatial illusion without compromising the flatness of the picture plane. Her palette of predominant greens and blues recall the sky and water of the seaside where she grew up. Beneath Ditacchio's paintings' smooth surfaces there is great depth achieved by building up layer upon layer of pigment to produce rich color, its lush intensity deftly conveying starkness or warmth. There will be an opening reception on Friday June 4 from 5:30 to 7:30pm. 201 Second Street, NW, Charlottesville, VA 22902
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