"Dangerous Encounter"
24" x 28"
Collaged romanced novels, acrylic and resin on panel

"All I want is a Real Women"
48" x 55.5"
Collaged romanced novels and 50s Pin-up magazines, acrylic and resin on panel

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Derek Cracco is a Birmingham, Alabama artist who received his MFA from Syracuse University and his BFA from Louisiana State University. He currently is the Assistant Professor of Printmaking and computer graphics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

He has participated in numerous exhibitions nationally and internationally, including T.E.N.T. Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, NL, Digital Printmaking Now at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Printwork 99 at the Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY which was juried by Claire Bell, Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Cracco has been recognized for his innovative combination of traditional printmaking processes and computer graphics.  His works are in museums and private collections throughout the country and abroad. This is his third solo exhibition in the gallery.

The artis's website: www.derekcracco.com

IN HIS OWN WORDS

"From Here to There"

These works use collaged ephemera, such as romance novels, fifties pin ups, and men’s health magazines to explore society’s fantasies and fascination with romance.The imagery challenges the viewer to consider the ideals promoted by these pulp publications, and to compare them with the realities of their own lives and the concepts of romantic love.

I see this as an opportunity to explore diverse avenues within my aesthetics. As Maslow's hierarchy of needs suggests, romantic love is frivolous, a flight of fancy. My visual interrogation of Maslow’s concept allows me the freedom to explore and create more playful compositional structures. At the same time, I remain focused on my investigations of masculine and feminine archetypes, and the roles these idealized men and women play within our fantasies.