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‘Still’ has moving portrayals of life

Exhibit at Fitton Center includes study of American imperialism.

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By Richard O Jones, Staff Writer 1:08 AM Sunday, February 5, 2012

HAMILTON — Alan D. Pocaro turns one of the Fitton Center galleries into a “grand historical narrative” he said, with the goal of “capturing the history of Western Civilization in a work of art,” he said.

“It’s an impossible task,” he said, “but this is my stab at it.”

The installation, “Light Passes Through It,” is part of an exhibition named “Still,” opening Friday at the Fitton Center for Creative Arts. It’s open through March 9.

His installation uses transparent panels and cylindrical paper lanterns — printed primarily with images from the British Victorian era — juxtaposed with news clips and images of Americana to create an implied commentary on contemporary American imperialism, an issue that he said is impossible to address directly without contributing to the intense partisan divide, Pocaro said.

With the paper lanterns providing soft colored light and the panels hanging from the ceiling, Pocaro has created a sort of low chandelier for people to interact with the imagery.

This is the fourth time this installation has been shown. In 2009, it placed in the top 75 out of 1,200 entries in an art competition in Grand Rapids, Mich.

In another gallery, Dawn Gettler’s “if we were wishes,” features fans blowing on a wooden rack filled with hundreds of sheets of white paper in various sizes. At times, a projection of Gettler setting up the piece in her studio is projected on the paper in stop-action animation.

“It creates kind of a poetic dance rather than a tedious physical task,” said Cathy Mayhugh, the Fitton Center’s director of exhibitions.

“She plays with the architecture of the space, the angles of the walls and the grid of the ceiling.”

In keeping with the theme of “Still,” “This installation has a quiet feeling to it, almost melancholy, but ironic because it’s not really still,” Mayhugh said.

The lobby galleries feature drawings by Edward Montgomery, photographs by Jon Yamashiro and collages by Carlos Diaz, curated by Jennifer Pearson Yamashiro under the collective title “Without a Sound: Visual Silence.”

Contact this reporter  at (513) 820-2188.

‘Still’

Installations by Dawn Gettler and Alan D. Pocaro and a group show featuring Carlos Diaz, Edward Montgomery and Jon Yamashiro

On view through March 9 at the Fitton Center for Creative Arts, 101 S. Monument Ave., Hamilton

For more information call (513) 863-8873 or visit fittoncenter.org

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