An exhibit of Matthew Colaizzo’s wood block prints will open Sunday, Jan. 20, at the Pennswood Art Gallery, 1382 Newtown Langhorne Road, Newtown, with a wine and cheese reception from 3 to 4:30 p.m., preceded by an illustrated presentation by the artist from 2 to 3 p.m. in Penn Hall.
Both events are free and open to the public.
Colaizzo works in the ancient medium of wood block printing interpreting present day bits and pieces of everyday urban and wild landscapes in a spare and stark manner reminiscent of the Japanese print-maker Hokusai.
By so doing, he lets viewers see the universality of a rubble heap, a building site of an on-ramp to I95, a steep-walled quarry, a vast modern building excavation, or perhaps a scene that could be a picture from a current Mars-roving space craft.
Colaizzo said his images “investigate our human mark on the planet.” He said he blurs the line between the natural and unnatural, and that he hopes to encourage the viewer to examine man’s place on earth.
Colaizzo, a member of the Tyler School of Arts’ faculty and a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, has an extensive exhibiting background reaching from Rome to New York.
The Pennswood Art Gallery is in Pennswood Village on Route 413, south of the Newtown bypass, adjacent to George School. For information, call 215-968-9110.
