March Exhibition: Urban Eden

BEVERLY, March 11, 2011- Montserrat College of Art Galleries is pleased to present Kim Salerno’s installation Urban Eden,curated by Lydia Gordon. The current exhibition in Montserrat College of Art’s alternative display space Frame 301, Urban Eden reveals a vivid textured world of digital imagery, wall patterning,and three-dimensional structures. Through the useof rich,decorative elements, Salerno’s installation draws in the attention of the viewers by arranging drawing, photography, and digital media to form an intricate landscape.    Salerno’s installation transforms the narrow space of Frame 301 into an urban garden. Digital prints of landscapes and gardens are cut, hung and layered alternately with transparent scrims and curtains, and expand beyond the picture plane to create a highly interactive window space. At first glance, the garden appears as a collage of idyllic flowers and scenery, beautifully nestled with embellished textiles and patterns. However, as nature is depicted through digital media, the awry placement of Urban Eden’s multiple forms begins to prompt a sense of nervous break down and eventual decay. As these layered materials create complex textual meaning within the installation, utopian and dystopian visions collide as the piece is confronted with human activity from the street. Kim Salerno’s creative work began with architecture, which continues to serve as inspiration for her more recent digital  and installation projects. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States in galleries, museums, and other public venues. The artist is a recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant and the Visual Arts Sea Grant from the University of Rhode Island. She earned her Masters of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, holds a certificate in Painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a BA from Smith College. Kim Salerno currently teaches at the University of Rhode Island.