COLLAGE & ASSEMBLAGE—PAST & PRESENT

The history of reusing the old to make something new is perhaps as old as humankind.  It speaks to the inner recycler in all of us and at the same time stimulates a creative impulse so basic that surely, during the early days of mankind, was the backbone for survival.  The present day application of this innate talent still never ceases to amaze, from the days of Ready-made when Marcel Duchamp's combination of baguettes and doll parts to the current show at Galeria/Atelier with San Miguel artists Patricia Mahan and Dan Matarazzo’s and New York City artist Joan Hall’s highly narrative collage and assemblage work; there is always something new being made with the old in which the viewer can revel.

The fascinating imagination of Patricia Mahan has delighted art admirers at Galeria/Atelier since 2007.  As Mahan has incorporated more work and input by her husband, Dan Matarazzo, their combined efforts have experienced an evolution.  More soldering has allowed their assemblages to grow to greater heights of the imagination.  Hunting and gathering objects for their artwork is an adventure that takes them to places that they would never have been drawn to otherwise. Found art assemblage encompasses their love of paint, metal, wood, 3D items and fabric, using anything and everything old and new. Dan has knowledge of carpentry, the love of working with his hands (he is a Rolfer and body therapist by trade) and sculpture allows him new and different ways to manipulate things and work three dimensionally. Some of the assemblage sculptures come together quickly and easily. Other times weeks and months go by before the right piece makes its way to their studio. What Dan and Patricia both love is finding something and looking at new ways to use it, giving it a new life and purpose with a new meaning. Transforming the objects demands a playful imagination and the constant challenge of opening the mind to see it in a new and different way. When an object begins to develop a presence, a kind of totemic power all its own, is when they know it’s close to being completed.

Native New Yorker, Joan Hall, started her art training at an early age, as her mother was a painter and her father a photographer. Joan attended Pratt Institute and then Juilliard School of Music as a dance major, but after learning stagecraft and set design, returned to her art roots.  She has exhibited her collages and assemblages worldwide in galleries and museums, including the Centre George Pompidou and the Museo Rufino Tamayo. Joan has been commissioned by the USIS to show her art and conduct workshops and lectures on collage at American Cultural Centers in France, India and Brazil. In 2001, she was awarded a US State Department Grant to go to Mexico to train teachers to teach ecology and recycling to children by creating art out of found objects and scrap images.  Her art has appeared frequently in the New York Times, Time magazine, The New Yorker and numerous other publications. Joan teaches COLLAGE at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and she lives and works in her Greenwich Village studio in Manhattan.

Galería/Atelier welcomes the public to meet the artists at the cocktail opening, Saturday, March 21, from 5-7 PM at Fabrica La Aurora.  Hall and Mahan will each be conducting a workshop in their respective mediums Tuesday, March 24 & Wednesday, March 25 at the gallery.  Joan Hall will also conduct a slideshow on the history of collage at the Biblioteca Publica on Friday, April 10 at 5 PM.  Contact the gallery at 044-415-151-8665 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for more info or to schedule a private viewing.