Sara Nightingale Gallery is pleased to present William Pagano, Here and Sometimes There, opening on Sat. July 6, from 6 - 8 p.m.
As a child, William Pagano had the good fortune of attending the opening of the new Idlewild Airport, now JFK, as well as the 1964/65 World's Fair. The architecture he observed at these events left a lasting imprint on his work. Utopian minimalist American architecture is the driving influence behind his work. "I select iconic buildings with wide open designs that address light and space and hope for the future," he says. In his Modern House Series, two well known mid century homes serve as inspiration: the Stahl House by Pierre Koenig and Twin Palms, by E. Stewart Williams. The Dulles airport terminal designed by Eero Saarinen as well as various highway interchanges also provide subject matter.
Using both his own photographs and appropriated images as source material, Pagano pairs down his compositions, stripping away the unnecessary and focusing on the line, shape and space that remains. Linear perspective is used and misused to create order, tension and contradiction. Pagano achieves crisp edges and lines by working with traditional drafting tools, which serve as a connection to the original architectural forms.
Like the Light and Space artists of Southern California in the 60's, Pagano's concerns are volume, scale and light. He utilizes the translucency of oil paint to emphasize these qualities. "I have sought out public venues that speak to an idealized spectacle, while the houses I have chosen emphasize a structure's primary function: shelter." The resulting paintings, however, are devoid of human figures, and thus generate tension between beauty and alienation.
Pagano is a New York based artist who has an MA in sculpture from C.W. Post College. This will be his debut solo exhibition at the gallery.
The exhibition will run through July 31. For information or more images contact Sara Nightingale at sara@saranightingale.com
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