Press Releases

January 20, 1999
Urban Utopia: The Folk Art of Ralph Fasanella

Contact:
Jane Finalborgo
Virginia Bennett
(516) 287 8313
Fax: (516) 283 4081

Urban Utopia, the Folk Art of Ralph Fasanella, an exhibit of 13 paintings of working class neighborhoods, will be on display February 1 - 26 in the Avram Gallery at Southampton College of Long Island University. A reception will be held on Saturday, February 6, from 4 - 6 PM with an artist's talk by Paul S. D'Ambrosio at 5 PM in the Avram Family Galleries in the Fine Arts Building. Ralph Fasanella (1913-1997) was a self-taught artist renowned for his large, colorful, and detailed paintings of American History, politics, and urban life. He was passionately committed to the betterment of society and saw a communal spirit and appreciation of physical grace that reaffirmed his belief in the vitality of the American public . The paintings included in the exhibit, completed between 1947 and 1995, with titles such as South Bronx Rebirth, Happy and Bud's Service Station, and Harry's Luncheonette, "can be seen as profound statements of values and protests against the destruction of working-class culture," according to the curator, Paul S. D'Ambrosio. Born in the Bronx to Italian immigrant parents, Fasanella spent his early childhood in densely populated lower Manhattan. In the early 1920's he was sent to the New York Catholic Protectory in the Bronx for truancy and other minor offenses where his devotion to baseball began. When Fasanella began to paint in 1945, it was largely due to a desire to reconnect himself with his working-class roots and to give working people a sense of identity and heritage.

"Utopian visions in art and literature are often other worldly and unattainable constructs that strive for an impossibly ordered perfection. Ralph Fasanella's art offers an alternative to their tradition," says D'Ambrosio, Chief Curator of the New York State Historical Association in Cooperstown, N.Y. "In his folk paintings of urban working class neighborhoods, Fasanella presented an opportunity for people to recognize the potential of existing human communities to physically and spiritually sustain their members. He also strove to expose destructive forces inherent in American society that threatened the fabric of these communities." In 1993 D'Ambrosio began a major project to document the life and works of Ralph Fasanella in preparation for a Ph.D. dissertation on the artist. The dissertation will lead to a large retrospective exhibition and catalogue on Fasanella scheduled for 2001. D'Ambrosio holds a Master of Arts in Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate program and is a Ph.D. candidate in the American Studies Program at Boston University. R. Marc Fasanella, Associate Professor of Arts and Media at Southampton College, is the son of the late artist. His own recent exhibit at Southampton College, The Artisan & The Virtual Age, Reflections on William Morris, championed the return to individual craftsmanship. The Avram Gallery is open noon to five weekdays, and by appointment. The reception is free and open to the public. For further information about the Gallery or exhibit call the Gallery Director, Beth Giles, at (516) 287-8234.