Anthony Cervino renews his whimsical and distinctive vision with “Stitchless,” an exhibition at the Kauffman Gallery at Shippensburg University.
Cervino has a well-established artistic presence that comes from his previous shows such as “Long Lost,” “Ejecta” and “Absence & Evidence.” Cervino is local to the area as the co-director and curator of Ejecta Projects, an art gallery and collaborative space in Carlisle.
The Kauffman Gallery is a well-lit, modestly sized gallery that foregrounds the pieces and provides contrast with expansive walls and a large floor space. This fits the mixed media medium used perfectly, and Cervino clearly considers the impact of his work in connection to the space and the viewer with uniquely engineered structures and frames.
To some degree, this collection could be analogized to discovering a forgotten box of baby pictures after moving. It presents childhood and youth in contrast to the frequent disconcerting aspects of reality, the impermanence of life and the expectations and contradictions which face us, all explored through found and altered objects. This infuses a sense of kitsch and Americana into the exhibit.
The piece titled “At Long Last” is made of collected copies of “The Secret of Skull Mountain,” the 27th volume of the “Hardy Boys” collection, along with cedar shims, cedar, plywood, shellac, linen, paint and glass.
The sculpture immediately stands out in the gallery with its rich evergreen frame, especially with the multiplicity of the book cover’s skull image. It conjures memories and images of scouting, with the green frame and cedar wood reminiscent of cabins and tents, along with the inquisitiveness of childhood. The emphasis of the repeating skull emblem along with the cedar shims contributes to the notion of the contrasts of youth, fear, survival and death within the piece. Throughout the collection, Cervino meditates on youth and these dichotomies through an array of modified found objects, creating a lofty and provocative exhibition.
“Stitchless” will be on display at the Kauffman Gallery at Shippensburg University’s Huber Arts center until Oct. 19.
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