Visual Poetry: Jerry DiFalco, a Life in Art

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION:

This exhibition “recreates” the spare bedroom Jerry DiFalco used as his studio. Besides a selection of his artwork, there are strategically placed artifacts, such as paintbrushes, tools and Jerry’s iconic red beret, all arranged in an iconic manner. It is a memorial to Jerry, as well as a memorial to his involvement with the DaVinci Art Alliance and with the Fleisher Art Memorial across the street. The opening reception is Saturday 2/3 from 4-7 PM. The closing is Sunday 2/18 from 12-2 PM. All of the framed prints are for sale.

Imagery and storyline were both vital components of Jerry’s creative process. He called it “visual poetry.” Many of his printed images — accomplished via the studio techniques of intaglio, aquatint, drypoint and chine collè — originated from his own photographs, as well as ones he uncovered during research into the archives of academia, historical societies and museums. He endeavored to establish links between the metaphysical and physical worlds, between the realms of dream and reality, and between the natural and the fabricated. He believed that art unveils everything that we mask behind our assumptions and biases — or rather, those realms we neglect — or refuse — to perceive. His label for our failure to examine these areas was “The Phenomenology of Non-Connectedness,” which he blamed on today’s communicational tools such as social media, the Internet, texting on smartphones and “tweeting.”

Visual Poetry: Jerry DiFalco, a Life in Art will be on view in Gallery 2 at Da Vinci Art Alliance starting February 1st until February 18th. The opening reception will take place on Saturday February 3rd, from 4-7pm.

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Jerry DiFalco was a member of the DaVinci Art Alliance from 1997 – 2007. He was a painter, sculptor, photographer and printmaker, who created a diverse body of work that he called “visual poetry.”

Born and raised in Camden, N.J., he lived in San Diego, New York City and Madrid, Spain before moving to Philadelphia. In 2009 he began working at the Fleisher Art Memorial as a printshop monitor and artists’ mentor. Earning a BFA from Rutgers and a MS from Drexel, he was inspired by a wide range of disciplines: architecture, history, religion, folklore, ancient culture, mysticism, archaeology, the cinema and mythology. His work invited the viewer to see beyond the ordinary into the extraordinary via scenes and objects from day-to-day experience. To that end, he traveled the world, photographing and sketching all that he saw, bringing it back to his modest apartment-studio on Cherry Street, which he shared with his longtime partner, Ron Funk.