Love is in the air at Farmington Valley Arts Center. Sixty-one artists from the Capitol region have contributed pieces to the new Valentine’s Day-themed exhibit, “Love Art,” which packs the FVAC’s cozy Drezner Gallery with 80 to 90 pieces that each interpret “love” differently.
To Dorota Rzepecki of Bristol, love is jazz played after midnight. To Mariann Weiss of Unionville, love is a roomful of Fidelco guide dog puppies, and to Deborah Sacks of Avon, it’s a print of herself and her cat. To Corey Tucker of Canton, love is a New Orleans shaman, surrounded by a mane of pink feathers and waving hello. To Elena Gibson of West Hartford, love is patterns based on designs from her native Ukraine. To Dawn Nolan Lombardi of Farmington, love is cupcakes, cocktails and pancakes, the whipped cream popping off of the canvas in thick blobs of oil paint.
Hearts, of course, are a common theme, in a wide variety of interpretations. Cathy Chong of Avon photographed an extreme close-up of a bright-reddish-orange autumn leaf with a little heart-shaped hole in the center. The freeform, stylized heart by Diane Olean Bannon of Granby is made with wine corks stained with red wine. Audrey Smith of Farmington created a 25-piece grid of hearts painted with glistening Pebeo paint. Some artists, on the other hand, are anatomically correct: their hearts are interlaced with veins, with arteries branching off.
Araelle Ash of Avon dives into the Valentine’s Day mood, centering her artwork on a poem by Rumi: “Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.”
LOVE ART is at Farmington Valley Arts Center, 25 Arts Center Lane in Avon, through March 7. Deborah Velasquez will hold a workshop, “Express Your Love on Paper!,” to create ink-and-brush word art, during a Valentine’s Day party on Feb. 13 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. artsfvac.org
