PHILADELPHIA, PA.- Bridgette Mayer Gallery announces its first exhibition showcasing the work of emerging artist Colin Pezzano. “Contain You” will present a selection of the artist’s recent works in the gallery’s lower level. Largely inspired by a combination of children’s cartoons of the mid 90s, comic books, and his own personal childhood experiences, these references are manifested in each piece’s sense of movement and its life-like character. The anthropomorphic qualities of his sculptural works additionally demonstrate a vested interest in experimenting with form and function as well as turning the typical notions of what constitutes a piece of furniture on their head.

The artist describes his works as follows: “I build furniture that evokes humor and pathos based on the narrative of memory. My focus is on the introspective, emotional conflict within. By abstracting the fundamental furniture forms the viewer experiences a sense of “jamais vu,” where the familiar is unfamiliar, which allows me to communicate ideas in the familiar language of domestic function.”

Pezzano is a graduate of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where he completed a BFA in Crafts with an emphasis on woodworking. In 2014, he was awarded a Faculty Choice Award and was also the recipient of a Windgate Fellowship Award. Recent notable exhibitions include Craft Forms 20th Anniversary at the Wayne Art Center, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show in 2014 and 2013, Collab at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Bethlehem Craft Show, and the Philadelphia Invitational Furniture Show at the 23rd St. Armory (Philadelphia, PA). He was also recently interviewed for the October/November 2014 issue of American Craft Magazine.

“Contain You” will be accompanied by gallery artist Rebecca Rutstein’s solo exhibition “Afterglow,” which will feature a new series of abstract paintings and powder coated steel sculptures.