press release june 2010
(< Return to Press Releases)CSMA’s Mohr Gallery Presents Paintings & Prints by Andy Muonio
Opening reception and artist talk on Friday, June 25, 6-8 pm
The Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) at Finn Center presents Paintings and Prints, by Andy Muonio. The exhibition will be in CSMA’s Mohr Gallery from June 18-August 1, 2010, with an opening reception and artist talk on Friday, June 25, 6-8 pm.
Local artist Andy Muonio is known for his oversized portraits, many of them characterized by vibrant color. He draws inspiration from video, digital stills, sketches and memory to create his expressive, yet controlled portraits. He often depicts his children and others in his life that he loves deeply, noting that family portraits “express the real happiness and contentment that can only be found in a secure family unit.”
Muonio uses color to convey emotion, to bend and pull the figure in a formal manner to satisfy the composition. The mark of the brush is important in both its gesture and its depiction. “I want to achieve a fluid, instantaneous feel to the paint, to maintain a certain optical mix of colors with blends that are not all soft transitions but maintain a raw mark and many hard edges,” says Muonio.
The artist is also very interested in the play of scale, as it creates an intimacy. His large paintings bring the viewer into the reality of the painted object that also holds the subject matter, a duality of flatness and three-dimensional illusion, and a change in recognition and cognition in different viewing distances. His small prints force the viewer to come close to experience the work, at a scale that would fit into their hand. Even though the viewer is not actually touching the object, the experience activates that intimate sense.
In his work Muonio strives to provide the viewer with a sense of reality, noting that an artist has an obligation to take the viewer out of his everyday life. “Viewing an original work of art should remind the viewer of their unique existence in the every-growing plurality of today’s digital archives,” says Muonio. “Painting today is more important than it has ever been.”
Andy Muonio holds multiple degrees, including: MFA and BFA in Pictorial Art from San Jose State University; BS in Illustration from San Jose State University; and AA in Illustration from Evergreen Valley College. Currently he is a lecturer in pictorial art at San Jose State University, School of Art and Design. He also teaches drawing and painting at the Community School of Music and Arts and monotype at the San Jose Institute for Contemporary Art. His other professional experience includes being CSMA’s Program Coordinator, Art in the Schools; teaching both children and adults at a variety of educational venues; and being a newspaper graphics editor. Muonio’s work has been on exhibition in both solo and group shows, including shows at works/san jose, San Jose Institutie of Contemporary Art, and other venues and galleries.
The Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) at Finn Center is committed to providing Arts for All, regardless of age, level, background or economic means. The non-profit, founded in 1968, reaches 40,000+ people annually providing classes, lessons, camps, in-school programs (Arts in Action, Music in Action), concerts, exhibitions, lectures and free community events. In Jan 2004, CSMA opened Finn Center, Silicon Valley’s first-ever center for music and arts education and the school’s first permanent home since its founding in 1968. CSMA is among the top 10 schools of its kind in the US.
CSMA’s Mohr Gallery is located at Finn Center, 230 San Antonio Circle, Mountain View, and is open Mon-Fri, 9 am-7 pm and Sat, 9 am-3 pm. The Friday, April 16 exhibition opening reception and artist talk with Elizabeth Gomez (6-8 pm) is free and open to the public. Info: see www.arts4all.org or call 650-917-6800, x306.