Bisignano Art Gallery Exhibit Will Display Visual Narratives by Ioana Mamali

DUBUQUE, Iowa - "What You See Is What Might Be: Visual Narratives by Ioana Mamali" will challenge patrons as they wrestle with the stories displayed in Mamali's paintings that will be on display at the University of Dubuque's Bisignano Art Gallery.

The gallery's newest exhibit is free and open to the public Friday, December 1, 2023, through Friday, December 29, 2023, inside Heritage Center, 2255 Bennett Street.

Alan Garfield, director of the art gallery and professor emeritus at UD, described Mamali as a bit of a time-traveler with paintings that look of early School of Paris Modernism.

"Mamali's figurative work blends history, literature, politics, and, yes, the history of modernism," Garfield said. "The subtitle of the show, 'Visual Narratives,' is apt. There is a story here in each picture, and the artist has chosen to be the sole storyteller. We see through her filter, alone... There is a bit of sitting on the edge of your seat to these paintings. It is true, as the show's title demonstrates, what you see is what might be."

A free pre-show reception for "What You See Is What Might Be: Visual Narratives by Ioana Mamali" will be held from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 5, 2023, in the art gallery. The pre-show reception will take place in conjunction with Away in the Basement: A Church Basement Ladies Christmas, which will begin at 7:30 p.m. in John and Alice Butler Hall, Heritage Center. For more information or to purchase tickets to the performance, please visit www.dbq.edu/HeritageCenter.

"It is our privilege to mount this mini retrospective of Ioana Mamali's work," Garfield said. "These are works, undoubtedly, that the artist has wrestled with. And we will, too."

Gallery hours are noon to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. The art gallery is open in conjunction with all major events in John and Alice Butler Hall, Heritage Center.

A catalog that accompanies "What You See Is What Might Be: Visual Narratives by Ioana Mamali" was funded, in part, by a grant from by Judith (C'67) and Bill (C'68) Crandall.

"What You See Is What Might Be: Visual Narratives by Ioana Mamali" will also be available virtually at http://gallery.dbq.edu.