BUILDING BRIDGES ART EXCHANGE Features Both International and Local Artists

BUILDING BRIDGES ART EXCHANGE presents two solo exhibitions opening December 12th from 5:00pm to 8:30 pm. In the main gallery, “Franco Marrocco-The Red Studio & Other Works” curated by Giovanni Iovane and Marisa Caichiolo will debut paintings from the international artist Franco Marrocco. On view in the project room is “J.J. L’Heureux: Etichette,”a solo show from Venice local and established artist J.J. L’Heureux.

Franco Marrocco is an established artist and the director of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, where he also teaches painting. The artist has shown his work at Palais d’Europe, Strasburg (1994); Sala Polivalente of the Eurpean Parliament, Brussels (1998); Museo Butti, Viggiù (1998); Palazzetto dell’arte, Foggia (1998); Chiostro di Voltorre, Varese (1999), and in occasione of the XIII Quadriennale di Roma. In 1997, there are invitations to the exhibition “Artinceramica”, Palazzo Reale in Naples that later travelled to Medelhavsmuseet in Stockholm and the “49° Premio Michetti”, Francavilla al Mare, Pescara.

In English the word "studio" refers to the working space where a painter, a photographer or a sculptor brings his or her creation to life. In Italian, however, "studio" also refers to a study on a certain subject, a drawing, an elaboration, as well as a model for a future application. It also means space for either a private or public exhibit.

Co-curator, Giovanni Iovane talks about Marrocco's exhibition, "'Red Studio' is the name of the exhibit and of the large-scale painting hanging in the gallery's main space. The exhibit's key piece is part of Franco Marroco's recent body of work, who turns his daily painting practice into a "study." The study is an original and singular characteristic of the pictorial process and space. A space with a view.

The art of Venice resident J.J. L’Heureux has been shown in museums around the world. She is most well known for her photography, she is also a painter, she also create collage and mixed media works. For this show her collages have been chosen…L’Heureux calls them “Etichette.”

Her annual treks to the Antarctic not only are the subject of her photography, which has been sought after by museums across the world, but they also inspire her to create in other mediums.

The artist has been featured in solo exhibitions at Kansas University Natural History Museum, Lawrence, Kansas, Detroit Zoo, Ford Gallery, Royal Oak, Michigan, SoZo Gallery, Dothan, Alabama, Madison Children’s Museum, Madison, Wisconsin.

L'Heureux's work has also be part of the following group exhibitions this year: “Water Unbalance” Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, “Who’s Afraid of Feminism?” AIR Gallery, Brooklyn, New York. (Catalogue), “i AM woman…i AM digital,” Women In Photography International, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. “Water Works II,” Porch Gallery, Ojai, California. (Catalogue).