News & Events 2008-2009

Art Show by Dan Finaldi at Blair Academy

An art exhibit by Dan Finaldi is on display in the Romano Gallery now through November 29. A reception was held on Friday, November 21.

Finaldi – whose work is frequently shown in galleries and exhibitions in the New York metropolitan area – resides in Highland Park, N.J., and earned both a master’s and bachelor’s degree in fine art. His collections appear at Messiah College, Rider University and St. Paul the Apostle Church.

In his artist’s statement, Finaldi said, “I am devoted to observing people as they are and as I perceive them in their space. I wish to paint what I believe to be beautiful: space, air, color and the spark of life that exists in every person. There is a glow and essence and a soulfulness that exists within each person. It is beautiful and truly ineffable to me, and it is an increasing source of my creative inspiration.”

He added, “My work has always been concerned with a painterly and direct observation of reality as I see it, which is connected to the wonderful tradition of figurative painting in Western Art. In past years, my approach was to discover a mood within a certain place or in a particular spot. I was interested in the spontaneous feeling that I was experiencing in that moment, and I wanted to paint that feeling. The emotion was always based upon a visual experience. I had seen something and I needed to paint it.”

Finaldi noted a recent change in his work: “Within the past six to seven years my work has taken on another dimension. While I continue to paint directly from life, I now find that I want to paint people. The people that I choose are in my life and environment: my family, my students and friends. Portraits and figure paintings have intrigued me and inspired me from my earliest years as a painter. Tackling larger compositions with the people sitting for me in a space is an extraordinarily exciting prospect. It is, therefore, with this inspiration that I have dedicated so much more focus on making these paintings.”

The Romano Gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; other hours by appointment. For more information on this exhibit, please call (908) 362-6121.

Updated 11/24/08

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