FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DEBORAH DANCY:

Dear Giotto Acrylic & Gouache on Paper October 16 ‐ November 24, 2012

Opening: Tuesday, October 16 at 6:00 pm

www.deborahdancy.com

SACI is proud to present in the SACI Gallery at Via Sant'Antonino, 11 (Florence), an exhibition of acrylic & gouache works on paper by Deborah Dancy (October 16 ‐ November 24, 2012).

Dear Giotto is a series of works on paper created during September and October 2012 while living in Florence. The title is homage to this artist across time and history and is a meditation on abstracting color, memory and stillness.

William Gass in his book On Being Blue, A Philosophical Inquiry writes, “It is the sky’s pale deep endlessness, sometimes so intense at noon the brightness flakes like a fresco. Then at dusk, it is the way the color sinks among us, not like dew but settling dust …”

Deborah Dancy echoes these impressions in contemplating her creation of these works: "Colors still vibrant in ancient frescos, imagined scaffolding that soared to staggering heights holding both artist and assistant; glimpses of wedges of color between buildings lit by the setting sun as I walk the city and the shimmering greens of distant cypress trees on the surrounding hillside, are also echoed in this series. The weight of history and the architecture of form illuminate my awareness. These works are my notes to Dear Giotto."

Deborah Dancy is an abstractionist who obtained her BFA at Illinois Weslyan University in 1973, her MS in printmaking from Illinois State University in 1976, and her MFA in at Illinois State University in 1979. Deborah Dancy has been on the faculty in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Connecticut since 1981. Her professional career has been marked by a number of significant honors and awards, including: a John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, Connecticut Commission of the Arts Artist Grant, New England Foundation for the Arts/NEA Individual Artist Grant, Nexus Press Artist Book Project Award, Visual Studies Artist Book Project Residency Grant, The American Antiquarian Society’s William Randolph Hearst Fellowship, YADDO Fellow, University of Connecticut Chancellor’s Research Fellowship, Women’s Studio Workshop Residency Grant, as well as a Connecticut Book Award Illustration Nominee.

She has exhibited in galleries and museums such as: Wright State University, Purdue University, The Rye Arts Center, Liz Harris Gallery, LewAllen Contemporary, The Fuller Museum, The Housatonic Museum, The Mattatuck Museum, The College of Saint Rose, The University of Rhode Island, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, The Spencer Museum, Mobius, The Mead Art Museum and The DeCordova Museum. Her work is included in numerous permanent collections including: The Boston Museum of Fine, The Birmingham Museum of Art, The Baltimore Museum of Art, The Montgomery Museum of Art, The Spencer Museum of Art, The Hunter Museum of Art, , , Oberlin College Museum of Art, Davidson Art Center, The Detroit Museum of Art, , Hallmark, General Electric Company, Chemical Bank, Capri Capital, The Bellagio Hotel, and The Embassy in Cameroon. Her work is represented by: Sears‐Peyton Gallery, New York; G.R.N’Namdi Gallery, Chicago; and Charles Young Fine Prints and Drawings, Portland. Dancy currently lives and works in Storrs, CT.

The SACI Gallery is open Monday to Friday 9am‐5pm, Saturday & Sunday 1‐7pm.

SACI Gallery - Palazzo dei Cartelloni Studio Art Centers International Via Sant’Antonino 11 T (39) 055 289 948 [email protected] Gallery Coordinator: 50123 FlorenceITALY F (39) 055 277 6408 www.saci-florence.edu Naomi Muirhead