FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 17, 2020
Lyman Allyn Art Museum
Press Contact: Rebecca Dawson, Director of Communications
860.443.2545 x2112 / [email protected]
THE LYMAN ALLYN ART MUSEUM SHOWCASES WORKS BY MELISSA BARBIERI
New London – The Lyman Allyn Art Museum announces the opening of Melissa Barbieri: Memories, Dreams and Archetypes, on view Nov. 21, 2020 through Jan. 24, 2021.
This exhibition showcases the work of Connecticut artist Melissa Barbieri, highlighting a recent series of her large-scale works on paper. These calligraphic and diagrammatic works are transcribed visions that combine text, symbols, words, and imagery. Using watercolor, India ink, and aquarelle wash, this series of paintings was influenced by ancient scrolls, codices, hide and ledger paintings, and recorded in an uninterrupted flow of thought-stream consciousness. They explore the dichotomy and duality of the ocean and the desert as mirrors connecting them to one another while bringing the unconscious to the conscious realm.
Barbieri’s work is fueled by her life-long fascination of both the vast romantic desert of the West and the dark power of the deep sea. Employing comparative mythology, symbolism, and archetypes, she explores how these elements are interwoven in ancient, classical, and modern culture and reside in our psyche today.
The exhibition will be on view in the Glassenberg Gallery on the first floor as part of the Museum’s Near :: New contemporary series. Born in Fairfield, CT, Barbieri paints out of her studio in Essex in the Connecticut River Valley. She studied classical painting in the Italian Renaissance manner with Frank Covino before attending the Ringling College of Art and Design.
The virtual opening reception will be on Friday, Nov. 20 from 6 to 7 p.m. Please visit the calendar of events tab on lymanallyn.org for event registration information.
For more information, please contact Rebecca Dawson by email at [email protected].
About the Lyman Allyn Art Museum
The Lyman Allyn Art Museum welcomes visitors from New London, southeastern Connecticut and all over the world. Established in 1926 by a gift from Harriet Allyn in memory of her seafaring father, the Museum opened the doors of its beautiful neo-classical building surrounded by 12 acres of green space in 1932. Today it presents a number of changing exhibitions each year and houses a fascinating collection of over 17,000 objects from ancient times to the present; artworks from Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe, with particularly strong collections of American paintings, decorative arts and Victorian toys and doll houses.
The museum is located at 625 Williams Street, New London, Connecticut, exit 83 off I-95. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm, Sundays 1:00 – 5:00 pm; closed Mondays and major holidays. The Lyman Allyn will be open for free all summer long, through Labor Day. For more information call 860.443.2545, ext. 2129 or visit us on Facebook or the web at: www.lymanallyn.org.