THE NICOLAYSEN ART MUSEUM Presents:

INFLUENCE SerenaBocchino

Curated by Amanda Yonker

May 25-August 15, 2021 OpeningreceptionMay25th5:30-7:30pm

WithaspecialpremiereExhibitionandBooklaunchof:

HEROES Women Artists Who Influence and Inspire

bySerenaBocchinoEssaybyLillyWei

TheNicolaysenArtMuseuminCasperWyomingispleasedtopresenttheworkofSerenaBocchino.Theexhibitionwillinclude,paintingsandsculpturefromthepast10yearsincluding:TheVeilSeries,Colorforms,MirrorSeries,Twirl,FEVER,andiPOP.TheMuseumwillalsobemountingalarge-scalemuralentitled,FRESH,fromtheiPOPSeries,onthefacadeoftheirbuilding.Duringhermini-residencyattheMuseum,Bocchinowillcreateasite-specificsuspendedwiresculpture.AmandaYonker,curatoroftheexhibitionwillincludethefivedocumentaryfilmscapturingBocchino’suniquestudiopractice.Bocchinowillbepremieringher“VeilsSeries”installationthatincludesher16-footand9foothangingsilkveilsthatwillbesuspendedfromthehighceilingsoftheMcMurryGalleryattheMuseum.ThesefabrichangingsareprinteddetailsofSerena’spaintingssuspendedinaquadrantconfiguration.SerenaBocchinowillalsobedebutingherHEROES:WomenArtistsWhoInfluenceandInspirebookandexhibitionatthemuseum.ThisHEROESexhibitionwillpresent37poempaintings,whichareintimateinscale,andcreatedusingoilpaintwithgraphiteonvellumpaper.ThebookispublishedinconjunctionwiththeexhibitionandincludesfullcolorreproductionsofthepoempaintingsandanessaybyNewYorkbasedartCritic,LillyWei.TheBook,writtenbyBocchinoincludesshortbiosoneachartistandtheconnectionthatSerenaBocchinohaswiththemandtheirwork.Forfurtherinformation,pleasecontactAndyCouch,ExecutiveDirectorattheNicolaysenArtMuseumatAndy@nic.orgor307-235-5247

THE NICOLAYSEN ART MUSEUM 400 E. Collins St, Casper, Wyoming, 82601, United States

The process by which Serena Bocchino creates her large scale abstract paintings takes cues from the male-driven New York School. She pours, drips, and layers paint directly onto the canvas to generate gestural and spontaneous lines that embody the musicality of Jazz. In the book Heroes: Women Artists Who Infl uence and Inspire, Bocchino not only honors the many women who have impacted her practice but trades canvas for paper and wields words as paint. This book enables Bocchino’s grand work to become more intimate while encouraging viewers to connect with other, maybe unfamiliar, female artists. It is a wonderful expansion of Bocchino’s artistic vision and addition to her oeuvre.Heather Cammarata-Seale, Ph.D.Independent Art Historian and Curator

Serena Bocchino’s very personal artistic project pays homage to a group of mostly A-list artists, all women, who have inspired her over the past four decades. Her choice of medium and vocabulary – poem paintings – like wise galvanize the viewer to produce their own creations inspired by her works. Ferris Olin, Ph.D.Distinguished Professor Emerita, Rutgers University

Serena Bocchino’s poetic and painterly homage to 37 women artists provides a personal and much needed feminist intervention in art history. These women, who include her mother and grandmother, comprise Bocchino’s personal canon of great artists. All women painters and poets should have a similarly beautiful constellation of infl uence, inspiration, and support.Donna GustafsonInterim Director, Curator, Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University

Heroes: Women Artists Who Infl uence and Inspire is a wonderful book. It attests to the importance of role models in the artists’ life – to learn from their work as well as from their attitudes, philosophies and life styles. In visual form, and in free verse poetry, Bocchino pays tribute to a number of women artists whom she encountered along the development of her own practice. Her remembrances are rendered in a refreshingly direct way. Charlotta KotikCurator Emerita, Brooklyn Museum

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LUCIA BOCCHINO LEE BONTECOU

JUDITH K. BRODSKY VIJA CELMINS

CHAKAIA BOOKER

MARIA CONFALONE

LOIS DODD MARISOL ESCOBAR HELEN FRANKENTHALER

LEE KRASNER

YAYOI KUSAMA

MARY HEILMANN

JUDY GLANTZMAN APRIL GORNIK NANCY GRAVES

NANCY GROSSMAN

COLETTE LUMIERE EVA LUNDSAGER

MELISSA MEYER JOAN MITCHELL ELIZABETH MURRAY

ALICE NEEL REBECCA PURDUM FAITH RINGGOLD

SUSAN ROTHENBERG IRMA SEITZ JUDITH SHEA

LORNA SIMPSON

JANET SOBEL ANNE TRUITT

IDELLE WEBER DAISY YOUNGBLOOD NOLA ZIRIN

SANDY SKOGLUND JOAN SNYDER

PAT STEIR

LOIS LANE

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ESSAY BY LILLY WEI

HEROESWOMEN ARTISTS WHO INFLUENCE AND INSPIRE

SERENA BOCCHINO