The Gallery at Hillside Square Presents Linda Ippolito’s Mezzogiorno

The Gallery at Hillside Square is pleased to present Linda Ippolito’s Mezzogiorno, on view February 6 through May 15, 2015.

Awarded an artist residency in Civita-Castellana, Italy, in the summer of 2013, Ippolito was inspired to create a series of mixed media paintings that explore the rich and tonal atmospheric qualities of light interacting with the landscape.

Ippolito has created a new collage process which combines the delicacy of fiber arts with painting. She fuses the painted surface with the texture of fibers, allowing a wholly new representation of color and light to emerge. Ippilito explains; “Just as the flow of oil paint allows me movement to orchestrate the composition, I’ve found that by layering silk deconstruction screens and Nuno felting, I am able to build images that portray the physicality of the landscape, at once emulating and enhancing nature.”

The work in Mezzogiorno expands on her tonalist sensibilities while paring down her subject matter to its visual and emotional essence, moving it towards abstraction. In “Sogni d’oro,” Ippolito’s haystacks in the foreground glow in the golden pink twilight, while in the distant hills a stone construction emerges from the earth like the nature that surrounds it, creating a poetic balance between nature and the human-made.

Reverence for nature is a central theme of Linda Ippolito’s art. Her works in oil, pastel, collage and fiber art investigate the interplay of light, color, form and texture in the landscape. “My inspiration is nature,” Ippolito says. “I have a special affinity for the landscapes and the dramatic light found in Tuscany, the South of France and Cape Cod. I am in partnership with nature when making my art.”

Linda Ippolito was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. She is a graduate of Pratt Institute. Her work has been exhibited in numerous galleries in New York and New Jersey. She resides in Montclair, New Jersey, and has studied at renowned institutions in the U.S. and France in both fine art and the culinary arts.

Linda Ippolito: Mezzogiorno
February 6 through May 15. Open Monday through Friday, 7 am – 7 pm
Hillside Square, 8 Hillside Avenue, Montclair, NJ, 07042
Free