I grew up with the stories and images of Catholicism, absorbing both the beautiful and horrific, and emerging with a paradoxical equanimity. I bring this mysterious balance into my mixed media work, enabling me to comment on the conflicting conventions of nature, human society, especially everyday life, and the human soul.
- Lydia Viscardi, 2023
How far would I travel
To be where you are?
How far is the journey
From here to a star?
“How Deep is the Ocean," Irving Berlin, 1932
RWFA is very pleased to present Connecticut-based artist Lydia Viscardi's first solo exhibition with the gallery. Her work was first exhibited in the 2021 group show Love Devotion Surrender Dedication co-curated with Mary Shah. Appropriately, it was Alyse Rosner who introduced her to the gallery for which we are grateful.
The collage works included in Pack Light are thematically linked through the elements Viscardi gathers and curates to create her imagined worlds. She has stated that her views of heaven are seen from the perspective of our comparatively puny earth which is populated by all manners of humans and creatures, with spaceships and orbiting jewels in densely packed skies, hanging over landscapes of perfect suburban houses and fields of flowers with girls in gingham dresses traipsing through them. Composed as if the contents of a child's toy chest were transformed into appliqués and spilled out onto a colored paper canvas, her collages are complex mixes of irony with contrasting and conflicting gestures. At once gentle and threatening, they illustrate a playful Apocalypse like a 13th century Book of Hours, where the heavens open and all is revealed. The expanse is infinite. It is best to pack light.
Exhibited Works
Lydia VISCARDI
Global Profile, 2019-2020
Collage and mixed media on paper
19 3/4 x 25 1/2 inches
Lydia VISCARDI
Badabling, 2021-22
Colored pencil, acrylic and collage on paper
19 3/4 x 25 1/2 inches
Lydia VISCARDI
Circle Back, 2022
Colored pencil, oil pastel, acrylic paint pen and collage on paper
22 1/4 x 30 1/8 inches
Lydia VISCARDI
Dancin’ Fool, 2021
Colored pencil, acrylic and collage on paper
22 1/4 x 30 1/8 inches
Lydia VISCARDI
Eat Before We Go, 2022
Colored pencil, acrylic and collage on paper
22 1/4 x 30 1/8 inches
Lydia VISCARDI
Lil’ Cosmic Questioner, 2022
Colored pencil, acrylic and collage on paper
22 1/4 x 30 1/8 inches
Lydia VISCARDI
Monkey Business, 2021
Collage and mixed media on paper
19 3/4 x 23 1/2 inches
Lydia VISCARDI
Pie Chart, 2019-2020
Collage and mixed media on paper
19 3/4 x 25 1/2 inches
Lydia VISCARDI
Wishin’ and a Hopin’, 2020
Collage and mixed media on paper
19 3/4 x 25 1/2 inches
Lydia VISCARDI
Neighborhood Watch, 2022
Colored pencil, acrylic and collage on paper
19 3/4 x 27 1/2 inches
Lydia VISCARDI
Pack Light, 2021-22
Colored pencil, acrylic, paint pen and collage on paper
19 3/4 x 25 1/2 inches
Lydia VISCARDI
Spacebook, 2019-2020
Collage and mixed media on paper
19 3/4 x 25 1/2 inches
Installation Views
CV
Lydia VISCARDI
Education
Undergraduate:
CW Post College, School of Art, LI University, Greenvale, NY BFA 1974
Toledo Museum of Art School of Design, Univ. of Toledo, Toledo, OH
Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY
Postgraduate:
William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ MFA Visual Art, 2006
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, summer 2004
Hunter College, NYC
Selected Continuing Education:
School of Visual Arts, NYC
National Academy, NYC
Parsons School of Design, NYC
Old Lyme Art Association, Lyme, CT
Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT
Dieu Donne, Brooklyn, NY
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023
Pack Light, Rick Wester Fine Art, New York, NY, March 2 – April 15
2021
Then the Morning Comes, Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT
2020
Here and Hereafter, Five Points Gallery, East Gallery, Torrington, CT
2007
Les Landes, Arts Alliance of Haverstraw, Haverstraw, NY
2005
Lydia Viscardi, 200 East 36th Street Gallery, New York, NY
2004
Selected Works in Oil and Mixed Media, Blue Heron Arts Center, New York, NY
2002
Lydia Viscardi, Center Gallery at Old Church, Demarest, NJ
2000
Lydia Viscardi, Arts Council of Rockland, Spring Valley, NY
Lydia Viscardi, Rockland County Legislature, New City, NY
Selected Two and Three Person Exhibitions
2023
The Not so Silent Witnesses: Lydia Viscardi and Rita Valley, The Camp Gallery, Westport CT
2018
Las Gravitas, ODETTA Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Internal Vision, Concepto Hudson, Hudson, NY
2008
New Works, The Terrance Joyce Gallery, Greenport, NY
2007
Migration, Black Rock Art Center, Bridgeport, CT
2004
Selected Works, Pomona Cultural Center, Pomona NY
1983
Three Artists, Burnside Gallery, Greenport, NY
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023
Alternative Realities, Norwalk Art Space, Norwalk, CT
From Alchemy to Numinosity, Berrie Center Galleries, Ramapo College of NJ, Mahwah, NJ
2022
Women Pulling Threads of Social Discourse, A Room of Our Own, Camp Gallery, Miami, FL
Waste Management, Upstairs Gallery, Institute Library, New Haven, CT
Spectrum: Serious Fun Art Fair, fundraiser for Planned Parenthood, White Plains, NY
Imagined Spaces, Inhabited Places, Eastern CT State University Art Gallery, Willimantic, CT
Unleashed, AHA Fine Art, Brooklyn, NY
2021
Cat Daddy, AHA Fine Art, Brooklyn, NY, curated by Jodi MacDonald
Ham Sandwich, AHA Fine Art, Brooklyn, NY
Viva La Momento Mori, AHA Fine Art, Brooklyn, NY, curated by Alexis Mendoza
Inaugural Summer Salon, AHA Fine Art, Brooklyn, NY
Love, Devotion, Surrender, Dedication, Rick Wester Fine Art, New York, NY
2020
35 x 35 Project, Copelouzos Family Art Museum, Athens, Greece
2019
Represented by Concepto Hudson Gallery, Hudson, NY
The Big Show: All Animals Welcome, Drawing Rooms, Jersey City, NJ
Animalia, Ann Street Gallery, Newburgh, NY
Figuration, Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY
Home Sweet Home, Ann Street Gallery, Newburgh, NY
2018
Represented by Concepto Hudson Gallery, Hudson, NY
#Unload: Pick up the Pieces, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT
University of Bridgeport and Housatonic Community College Art and Design Faculty Show, Shelfhaudt Gallery, CT
Exchange, Utah Art Alliance, Salt Lake City, UT
Monster, Hans Weiss Newspace Gallery, Manchester Community College, Manchester, CT
Silence Breakers, Ely Center of Contemporary Art with Nasty Woman of CT, New Haven, CT
The Eighties, Concepto Hudson, Hudson, NY
Beautiful Minds, Pop-up Show, Arcilesci Homberg Fine Arts, NEW YORK, NYValentine, Concepto Hudson, Hudson, NY
2017
Playground, Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY
Second Dream, Pop-Up Show, Arcilesci Homberg Fine Arts, New York, NY
In Grace We Trust, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT
Nasty Women, Institute Library with Nasty Women of CT, New Haven, CT
Crossing Borders, Burt Chernow Galleries, Housatonic Museum of Art, Bridgeport, CT
2016
The BIG small show, Victory Hall Drawing Rooms, Jersey City, NJ
FEATURED FLAT-FILE ARTIST: Child’s Play, ODETTA, Brooklyn, NY
One Late Night, Installation, Space B, Brooklyn, NY
Nation IV, Through the Rabbit Hole, Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Aesthetic Allusions, Burt Chernow Galleries, Housatonic Museum of Art and Bridgeport City Hall, CT
2015
Small Work Sampler, Read’s Art Space, Bridgeport, CT
Parallels, Burt Chernow Galleries, Housatonic Museum of Art, Bridgeport, CT
Reverence for Life, Albert Schweitzer Institute, Quinnipiac University, Hamden, CT
Sideshow Nation III, Circle the Wagons, Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2014
Seeking Space, The Active Space, Brooklyn, NY
One Plus One, Schelfhaudt Gallery, University of Bridgeport, CT
Smackdown II Immersion Salon, Beechwood Arts, Westport, CT
(A)Muse, Burt Chernow Galleries, Housatonic Museum of Art and Bridgeport City Hall, CT
Beauty and Wonder of Nature, Albert Schweitzer Institute, Quinnipiac University, Hamden, CT
Art/BPT/2014, City Lights Gallery, Bridgeport, CT
Sideshow Nation II at the Alamo, Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2013
Home Sweet Home, Westport Art Center, Westport, CT
Alumni Exhibition, Power Art Center, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ
On the Road, Burt Chernow Galleries, Housatonic Museum of Art, Bridgeport, CT
Sideshow Nation, Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2012
Thick to Thin, Brooklyn Fire Proof, Brooklyn, NY
MIC:CHECK (OCCUPY), Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
AiW Norwalk Art Commission Public Art, Norwalk, CT
A Collection of Dissimilar Things, Burt Chernow Galleries, Housatonic Museum of Art, Bridgeport, CT
Animal Life, Blue Hill Art & Cultural Center, Pearl River, NY
2011
Represented by Geary Gallery, Darien CT
Splash, Housatonic Museum of Art, Burt Chernow Galleries, Bridgeport, CT
Evolution, Housatonic Museum of Art, Burt Chernow Galleries Bridgeport, CT
It’s All Good, Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Seeing Trees, Blue Hill Art & Cultural Center, Pearl River, NY
2010
Represented by Geary Gallery, Darien CT
Flower (RE) Power, Housatonic Museum of Art, Burt Chernow Galleries Bridgeport, CT
It’s a Wonderful 10th, Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2009
Art of the Bird, Blue Hill Art & Cultural Center, Pearl River, NY
Dem Bones, Dem Bones, (Curator and exhibiting artist) Carriage Barn Art Center,
New Canaan, CT Continuing Threads and New Voices, Ramapo College of NJ, Mahwah, NJ
2008
Fish, Carriage Barn Art Center, New Canaan, CT
Journey: Stories My Mother Told Me, The Barnum Museum, Bridgeport, CT
Spectrum 2008, New Canaan Art Center, New Canaan, CT
2006
First Look 2006 Emerging Artists Series, Visual Arts Center of NJ, Summit, NJ
Blank Canvas, Visual Arts Center of NJ, Summit, NJ
The Season, Arts Alliance of Haverstraw, Haverstraw, NY
Highlight Connecticut, Black Rock Art Center, Bridgeport, CT
Caressing Death (Ribcage) Installation, Warehouse Space, Garnerville Arts Project, Garnerville, NY
Rage Against the Machine, Spire Studios, Beacon, NY
Material Matters II, Power Art Gallery, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ
2005
Red is Everywhere, Sculpture Grounds, Rockland Center for the Arts, W. Nyack, NY
Reasonably Straight Digital Photography, Center Gallery at Old Church, Demarest, NJ
Material Matters: Sculpture, Ceramics, Wood, Power Art Gallery, William Paterson Univ., NJ
Addendum, Ramapo College, Kresge/Pascal Gallery, Mahwah, NJ
2004
15th Annual Small Works Show, Center Gallery at Old Church, Demarest NJ
2003
14th Annual NJ Small Works Show, Center Gallery at Old Church, Demarest, NJ
Garnerville Arts Expo, Garnerville Arts & Industrial Center, Garnerville, NY
New Work, Power Art Gallery, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ
Birds II, an invitational, Edward Hopper House Art Center, Nyack, NY
2002
The Birds, An Invitational Center Gallery at Old Church, Demarest, NJ
Garnerville Arts Expo, Garnerville Arts & Industrial Exchange, Garnerville, NY
13th Annual NJ Small Works Show, Center Gallery at Old Church, Demarest, NJ
Glue Too, New Century Artists Gallery, NYC
2001
Small Matters of Great Importance, Edward Hopper Art Center, Nyack, NY
Contemporary Collage Now, Nexus Gallery, NYC
Getting It Together: Collage Assemblage Society, Center for Digital Art & Community Artists,
Times Square Gallery, NYC
Glue! (Collage Assemblage Society), New Century Artists Gallery, NYC
2000
Faculty Exhibit, Rockland Center for the Arts, W. Nyack, NY
Small Matters of Great Importance, Edward Hopper Art Center, Nyack, NY
Landscape – Fauna and Flora, Pomona Cultural Center, Pomona, NY
11th Annual Small Works Exhibit, Center Gallery at Old Church, Demarest, NJ
1998 -1999
Millennium Exhibit, Pomona Cultural Center, Pomona, NY
Nine Choose Nine, Rockland Center for the Arts, W. Nyack, NY
Focus on the Figure, Edward Hopper Art Center, Nyack, NY
1996 -1997
The Multi-Dimensional Shoe Show, Edward Hopper Art Center, Nyack, NY
Personal Mythology: Faculty Exhibit, Hudson Arts, Tomkins Cove, NY
If the Shoe Fits, FAO Gallery, NYC
1994 - 1995
It’s Love, Rockland Center for the Arts, W. Nyack, NY
Functional Art, Tomkins Cove Art Center, Tomkins Cove, NY
Focus on the Figure, Edward Hopper Art Center, Nyack, NY
1981 - 1983
Graphic Art, Burnside Gallery, Greenport, NY
Images of Spring and Summer, Burnside Gallery, Greenport, NY
Closeness and Clash in Art and Life, Terrain Gallery, NYC
Winter, Burnside Gallery, Greenport, NY
Prints of the Island, Burnside Gallery, Greenport, NY
New Drawings in America, The Drawing Center, NYC
1976 - 1979
Previously Unseen, The Drawing Center, NYC
Annual Juried Exhibition, The Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, NY
Collections
Housatonic Museum of Art, Bridgeport, CT
Copelouzos Family Art Museum, Athens, Greece
Eastern Connecticut State University Art Gallery, Willimantic, CT
Private collections throughout the US and the UK
Awards
2nd Place: Journey: Stories My Mother Told Me, 2008
Barnum Museum, Bridgeport, CT, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts
Creative Achievement in Visual Arts, May 2006
Honors College of William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ
Nomination: Aljira Emerge, Newark, NJ, December 2006
Nominated by Mari D’Allesandro, NJ Center for Visual Art, Summit, NJ
First Look Emerging Artists Series, 2005
New Jersey Center for Visual Art, Summit, NJ, Mari D’Allesandro, Exhibitions Director
Award for Excellence: 15th Annual NJ Small Works Show, 2004
Center Gallery, Old Church Cultural Center, Demarest, NJ
Juror: Anthony Grant, owner, Anthony Grant, Inc. Gallery, New York, NY
Recipient: Vermont Studio Center fellowship, 2003 (postponed)
Award for Excellence: 13th Annual NJ Small Works Show, 2002
Center Gallery, Old Church Cultural Center, Demarest, NJ
Juror: Robert Koenig, Director, The African Museum of the SMA Fathers, Tenafly, NJ
Honorable Mention Painting: 11th Annual NJ Small Works Show, 2000
Center Gallery, Old Church Cultural Center, Demarest, NJ
Juror: Jacquelyn Roesch-Sanchez, Director, Montclair Art Museum Yard School of Art
Publicity
WPKN radio interview, 89.5FM, Jan. 24, 2023, Jim Motavalli's show, 89.5FM, WPKN streaming, http://wpkn.org
Hartford Courant, Section 4, Arts &Living, July 10, 2022, Connecticut museums and galleries offering exhibits, pictured: “Maybe Hereafter” by Lydia Viscardi
Newhavenarts.org, Sept 8, 2021, review by Susan Rand Brown
https://www.newhavenarts.org/arts-paper/articles/heaven-hell-and-what-lies-between
The Newtown Bee, Friday, July 9, 2021, Viscardi Celebrating Solo Exhibition in Hartford: Opening Reception July 15
WPKN radio interview, Live Culture with Martha Willette Lewis, June 26, 2021, 89.5FM, WPKN streaming, http://wpkn.org
Artspiel.org, Sept.9, 2020 https://artspiel.org/here-and-hereafter-lydia-viscardi-at-five-points-gallery/
WPKN radio interview, 89.5FM, Sept. 8, 2020, Jim Motavalli's show, 89.5FM, WPKN streaming, http://wpkn.org
Connecticut Post, August 30, 2020, Arts and Style, Confronting our Mortality, Amanda Cuda,
Connecticut Post August 30, 2020, https://www.ctinsider.com/living/ctpost/article/Newtown-artist-s-show-focuses-on-Here-and-15526936.php
Waterbury's Republican American August 28,2020, https://www.rep-am.com/featured/2020/08/28/five-points-four-shows-exhibits-range-from-abstract-to-mixed-media/
New Haven Register, August 18, 2020, https://www.nhregister.com/entertainment/article/Five-Points-Gallery-show-features-works-by-Lydia-15493903.php
The Register Citizen https://www.registercitizen.com/entertainment/article/Five-Points-Gallery-show-features-works-by-Lydia-15493903.php
Voices, August 26, 2020: Newtown Artist showcased at Five Points Gallery
Artspiel.org, 2018 https://artspiel.org/las-gravitas-at-odetta/
Connecticut Post, Art Bonanza at UB Gallery, Nov. 5, 2015
https://twitter.com/hyperallergic/status/473257044783669248
http://artsinbushwick.org/bos2014/directory/seeking-space/
2014 https://bushwickdaily.com/arts-culture/2353-fashion-in-art-check-out-these-stylish-works-from-bos/
CT Post-Chronicle, Arts & Leisure, “QU's Albert Schweitzer Institute exhibit to showcase “Beauty & Wonder of Nature”, April 2, 2014
Articles.courant, http://articles.courant.com/2014-03-30/community/hcrs-87238-hamden-20140328_1_quinnipiac-faculty-quinnipiac-university-art-exhibit, |John Pettit, March 30, 2014Balanced Rock: The North Salem Review of Art, Literature and Photography, Vol. I, 2013, Mouse that Flies, Concklin’s Orchard Southeast View
Mother-musing.com – Interview
http://mother-musing.com/blog/2012/08/11/lydia-viscardi-rooms-in-the-house/
(An Appropriate Distance) FROM THE MAYOR’S DOORSTEP, ‘The Latest Super Spectacular”, http://www.pirihalasz.com/blog.htm?month=2012-01, Piri Halasz,
Connecticut Post, Pulse, Re-energizing the Flower, Phyllis A.S. Boros, 2010
Newstimes.com, http://www.newstimes.com/default/article/Housatonic-Museum-re-empowers-the-flower-in-Bridgeport 520721.php, Phyllis A. S. Boros, June 11, 2010
Culture Catch, http://www.culturecatch.com/art/dem-bones, by Margaret Roleke, November 10, 2009
Newtown Bee, https://www.newtownbee.com/05112007/migration-features-works-by-lydia-viscardi-and-thuan-vu/?q=Lydia%20Viscardi
Thursday, January 26, 2006 The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains – Fanwood TIMES https://www.goleader.com/06jan26/22.pdf
Rivertown, “Garnerville Arts Festival”, June 2006
Greater Haverstraw Happenings, “Gaga Arts Festival”, Caressing Death / Ribcage, Mixed media installation, 2005, June 2006, Vol. 4, No. 5
Dan’s Papers, “Lydia Viscardi at Blue Heron”, Jan.14, 2005
Bergen Record, Arts & Leisure, “Photography exhibit on display at the art school”, August 3, 2005
Northern Valley Suburbanite, “OCCC gallery hosts Viscardi exhibit”, Arrival and Departure, oil and collage on masonite, 2001, July 5, 2002
The Journal News, Small Scale, Self Portrait as Mary Cassatt, oil and collage on panel, 2001, Sept. 6, 2001
Arts Happenings, August Noon Heat, assemblage, 2000, Nov 2000, Vol. 25 – No. 11
Arts Happenings, Holy Moly, mixed media, 1999, Aug./Sept 2000 Vol. 25 – No. 8/9
Newsday, The Arts & Entertainment, Art Review, “Images of Spring and Summer”, June 14, 1983
The Sun, Arts/Entertainment, “Greenport’s Burnside Gallery: Images in a Variety of Media”, June 2, 1983
Art/World, New York Exhibitions, “Couples”, May 1983
The New York Times, “Images of the North Fork”, August 8, 1982
Sunstorm, “Savoring the North Fork”, Couch Series, silkscreen, 1974, Oct. 1981
The Suffolk Times, “Lively Arts: Burnside Show”, Sept 17, 1981
Newsday, Art Review, “Prints of the Island”, Sept. 11, 1981
Manhattan Catalog, Art Review, “Three Artists”, 1980