WebinART: Shining a Light into the Dark Dream World
Virtual event hosted by Pucker Gallery.
This past weekend, Pucker Gallery hosted a conversation with Professor Emeritus at Bridgewater State University Steve Smalley, Painter Gerald Perrino, Artist Samuel Bak, and Director Bernie Pucker. These friends, colleagues, and students explored the art and community created by Enrico Pinardi.
Enrico Pinardi's exhibition, Alone and Together: Art and the World of Enrico Pinardi will be on view at Pucker Gallery through 5 June, 2022.
Gerry Perino is a painter who has taught at Salve Regina University for the past 23 years. He previously taught in a number of programs, including RISD and Wesleyan University, where he was the John Frazer Visiting Lecturer.
Mr. Perrino has exhibited widely over the past 30 years and is represented by HallSpace, a gallery in historic Dorchester. His work is represented in numerous public and private collections across the U.S. and in Germany.
Steve Smalley, a Bridgewater, Massachusetts resident since 1972, was raised in Boston and Quincy. Smalley graduated from Massachusetts College of Art, State College at Boston, and The Pennsylvania State University. He joined the art faculty at Bridgewater State University in 1972 and he served as art department chair, from 1972 to 1984, retiring from full-time teaching in 2005. As professor emeritus, he continues to offer honors art history colloquia. Other teaching positions were with the Cambridge Public Schools, Pennsylvania State University, Tyler School of Art/Temple University, Massachusetts College of Art, and the American College in Paris.
His recent exhibition in the Anderson Gallery at Bridgewater State University focuses on the legendary British monarch, Henry VIII, and attempts to playfully re-invent Hans Holbein's portrait of a pivotal figure in England's history.
Smalley has visited London and the United Kingdom numerous times over the years, conducting art history study tours to London while serving as a faculty associate in the Bridgewater State University Program at Oxford. His work frequently blends aspects of popular culture with the stateliness of Ol' Blighty.
Samuel Bak was born on August 12, 1933 in Vilna, Poland at a crucial moment in modern history. From 1940 to 1944, Vilna was under Soviet, then German occupation. While both he and his mother survived, his father and four grandparents all perished at the hands of the Nazis. At the end of World War II, he and his mother fled to the Landsberg Displaced Persons Camp. Here, he was enrolled in painting lessons at the Blocherer School, Munich. Bak’s studies continued as he immigrated to Israel, and he later received a grant to pursue his studies in Paris.
In 1959, he moved to Rome where his first exhibition of abstract paintings was met with considerable success. In 1961, he was invited to exhibit at the "Carnegie International" in Pittsburgh. And, in 1963 two one-man exhibitions were held at the Jerusalem and Tel Aviv Museums. It was subsequent to these exhibitions, during the years 1963-1964, that a major change in his art occurred. There was a distinct shift from abstract forms to a metaphysical figurative means of expression. Ultimately, this transformation crystallized into his present pictorial language.
Since 1959, Samuel Bak has had solo exhibitions at private galleries in New York, Boston, London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Zurich, Rome and other cities around the world. Numerous large retrospective exhibitions have been held in major museums, universities, and public institutions.
Bernie Pucker is the director of Pucker Gallery, which he founded with his wife, Sue, on Newbury Street in Boston in 1967. Pucker Gallery represents over fifty artists from around the world, presenting approximately ten exhibitions annually, often paired with artist talks, virtual “WebinArts,” and other public events.
Bernie is currently a Board Member at the Japan Society, Boston, and the Jewish Publication Society. He also serves on the Leadership Council for Facing History and Ourselves, as well as the Artistic Advisory Board for the Terezin Music Foundation. Previously, he served as President of Solomon Schechter Day School; President of the Newbury Street League; and a Board Member for the Friends of Copley Square and The Unity Project, among others.
Bernie received his MA in Modern Jewish History from Brandeis University and his BA in History and English Literature from Columbia College.