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| Mary DiBiasio Beans and Barley Market and Café 1901 E. North Avenue, Milwaukee Through November 30 |
| Mary DiBiasio installation view. |
A series of 10 square pieces by Mary DiBiasio hangs in an even row across the main wall at Beans
and Barley. Approximately 24 x 24 inches, each panel looks like a different, abstracted aerial view of a
place. With a very limited, washy palette, DiBiasio constructs topographies suggestive of cities,
country towns, and maybe a harbor area or two. She layers little mosaic squares of paper onto
collagraph prints with acrylic medium, which creates a plastic surface.
Titled The Long Life Series, the prints are reminiscent of places, but not definitively descriptive,
occupying that space in-between abstraction and representation. Each one reads as a different
configuration of an unidentified place, but what is interesting is that even though they feel like
schematic maps which by nature are very specific, they suggest the possibility of timelessness. They
could be images of ancient cities or archeological digs as easily as they could be Baltimore’s harbor
area. We are confounded in our attempt to nail down the location. Yet, each panel strongly suggests a
type of locale and a specific time of day or mood.
and Barley. Approximately 24 x 24 inches, each panel looks like a different, abstracted aerial view of a
place. With a very limited, washy palette, DiBiasio constructs topographies suggestive of cities,
country towns, and maybe a harbor area or two. She layers little mosaic squares of paper onto
collagraph prints with acrylic medium, which creates a plastic surface.
Titled The Long Life Series, the prints are reminiscent of places, but not definitively descriptive,
occupying that space in-between abstraction and representation. Each one reads as a different
configuration of an unidentified place, but what is interesting is that even though they feel like
schematic maps which by nature are very specific, they suggest the possibility of timelessness. They
could be images of ancient cities or archeological digs as easily as they could be Baltimore’s harbor
area. We are confounded in our attempt to nail down the location. Yet, each panel strongly suggests a
type of locale and a specific time of day or mood.
When DiBiasio uses a blue wash for the overall theme of a
panel, a feeling of night descends on the geometric
configurations. When she applies green washy tones, the
“maps” begin to feel like rural daylight. The stained yellow
panels suggest age and distance (Pompeii, Jericho) and the
cleaner, flatter beige backgrounds allude to the contemporary
realm of new buildings and urban planning.
As humans, we so easily become adept at reading the
abstract language of maps, where in a glance we interpret
distance, cities, railroad crossings and natural land forms
such as rivers and lakes. DiBiasio’s work makes me wonder if
color and geometric rhythms (which essentially are what these
prints consist of) emit as strongly associative and instant
“readings.” It seems like DiBiasio takes what our brains are
already trained to do very well, which is decipher coded,
panel, a feeling of night descends on the geometric
configurations. When she applies green washy tones, the
“maps” begin to feel like rural daylight. The stained yellow
panels suggest age and distance (Pompeii, Jericho) and the
cleaner, flatter beige backgrounds allude to the contemporary
realm of new buildings and urban planning.
As humans, we so easily become adept at reading the
abstract language of maps, where in a glance we interpret
distance, cities, railroad crossings and natural land forms
such as rivers and lakes. DiBiasio’s work makes me wonder if
color and geometric rhythms (which essentially are what these
prints consist of) emit as strongly associative and instant
“readings.” It seems like DiBiasio takes what our brains are
already trained to do very well, which is decipher coded,
referential abstractions like map lines and squiggles, and then she tampers with the language to see
what results. What new interpretations occur between the disjuncture of what we expect, but what we
don’t fully receive from her?
What we don’t get are guideposts. No identification of specific locale, no text panel that explains her
choice of these compositions. We are left to decode the maps ourselves, which is very pleasant and
thought provoking because each piece has a gentle, rather tender demeanor, not meant to be
confounding, but to invite us into the puzzle.
DiBiasio is a recent printmaking graduate from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. Her formal
process seems complex. Collagraph is a printmaking technique that stems from an initial low-relief
collage which is inked and printed. But DiBiasio appears to paste more things on to the print, maybe
ink it again, and make another print, building up layers that give these works a complex and slightly
obsessive richness. To her credit, DiBiasio pushes the notion of printmaking into a very tactile and
painterly realm.
- Debra Brehmer
Debra Brehmer is co-publisher of Susceptible to Images.
Comments? Email debrabrehmer@susceptibletoimages.com
what results. What new interpretations occur between the disjuncture of what we expect, but what we
don’t fully receive from her?
What we don’t get are guideposts. No identification of specific locale, no text panel that explains her
choice of these compositions. We are left to decode the maps ourselves, which is very pleasant and
thought provoking because each piece has a gentle, rather tender demeanor, not meant to be
confounding, but to invite us into the puzzle.
DiBiasio is a recent printmaking graduate from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. Her formal
process seems complex. Collagraph is a printmaking technique that stems from an initial low-relief
collage which is inked and printed. But DiBiasio appears to paste more things on to the print, maybe
ink it again, and make another print, building up layers that give these works a complex and slightly
obsessive richness. To her credit, DiBiasio pushes the notion of printmaking into a very tactile and
painterly realm.
- Debra Brehmer
Debra Brehmer is co-publisher of Susceptible to Images.
Comments? Email debrabrehmer@susceptibletoimages.com
| Detail of The Long Life Series by Mary DiBiasio at Beans and Barley |