About the Artist

Pat is a Jersey girl now living and working in Maryland. Drawn to the Chesapeake state in part by a fellowship from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), she earned an MFA in painting in 2007. Her first MFA was conferred by Boston University's School of Visual Art in 1978. Since 2007, her work has been seen in many solo, group, and juried exhibitions in the DC metro area. Critical response has be enthusiatically favorable.

Of her Entr'acte series, it has been said:

"Di Bella's work is a swirl of frenzied theatrical activity and bedlam in a riot of strong brushwork and color impossibilities. … ‘Sound Check, Teatro Diego’ … a very intelligent homage to Diego Velasquez ‘Las Meninas’. A bravo to the artist...", F. Lennox Campello, DC art critic, from his blog dcartnews, 8/9/09.

"The energy is volcanic in Patricia Di Bella's psychologically charged paintings of the theater...", Sarah Tanguy, Curator of Art in Embassies Program, in an essay 7/2007.

In March 2008, Di Bella's collage painting ‘Earnest Trio’ received first place in the Fredericksburg Center for the Creative Arts juried exhibition ‘Fragments’. The review stated:

"This mixed media piece is just glorious in its use of collage and paint. The artist has distilled contempory and ancient influences... compelling faces emerge, recalling the relief ornamentations of Byzantine iconography."

Her work in oil and pastel has been included in group exhibitions in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Her graduate exhibition of theatrically themed paintings, entitled Entr'acte, was held in July 2007 at MICA.

You can reach Patricia Di Bella by sending e-mail to dibellarella@yahoo.com .

Artist's Statement

Portraiture

All of my work somehow references the human form and visage. There is endless discovery in the act of painting a portrait, in the establishment of a connection and rapport with the subject. I have never found a landscape as compelling as the human face.

Entr'acte

Entr'acte is a term used in musical theater that indicates the piece of music that introduces the second act. This body of work depicts my personal response to the heightened experiences of the performer. The paintings reference western art history and classical mythology through the prism of Broadway and Hollywood.

Collages & Collage Paintings

These ongoing paper collages and collage paintings represent a deepening concern for surface over narrative in my work. Although the cut shapes and spaces of the paper collages recall cubist style, the textured surfaces of the collage paintings reference the relief ornamentation of Byzantine iconography.

Festivities

The settings and subject matter of this series utilize personal memories in addition to referencing Western European art. The characters are depicted in special circumstances - at parties, weddings, and holiday gatherings.