Gina Pierleoni uses portraiture to spark conversations about empathy and our common humanity. Portraiture is the opposite of assumption. Pierleoni’s images are acts of deep seeing that push past label and judgments; they seek to "de-separate" us.
In every series, Pierleoni assembles pieces to create a larger whole. Portraits of real people placed together become a community or congregation. Older, paintings are fitted in new ways to make large Human Icons that record a transformative moment. Torn paintings and to-do lists create paper mosaics; when shaped as arrows they are intentional prayers. Recycled fabrics and other repurposed cast offs become her hand-sewn figures. Her Painting Rag Shirts are made from decades of t-shirt scraps used in the studio, then fitted and sewn back together. Even in the series, Forgetting Memory, her mother’s brain loss inspires ways to piece together new stories with humor and compassion.
Pierleoni earned an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore.
Individual Artist Awards include grants from the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts; the Gottlieb Foundation (emergency grant); three from Maryland State Arts Council. In 2020, she was acknowledged with an 'Exceptional Achievement as an Adjunct Faculty Member in Arts & Humanities 'from Harford Community College. She was also recognized as a ‘Hero in the MICA Community’ in 2011.
Solo exhibition venues include: Stevenson University, Stevenson, MD; Creative Alliance, Baltimore; Uferwerk, Werder, Germany; CCBC, Baltimore; Mooney Gallery, New Rochelle, NY; Craig Flinner Gallery, Baltimore; Gallery 10, Washington, DC; School 33 Art Center, Baltimore.
Group exhibition venues include: Towson University, MD; The Star-Spangled Banner Flag House, Baltimore; Courthouse Galleries, Portsmouth, VA; Notre Dame University of Maryland, Baltimore; Fortezza da Basso, Florence, Italy; Angel Orensanz Foundation, NY/NY; Betsy Underground Gallery, Miami Beach, FL; WPA/Corcoran, Washington, DC; Maryland Art Place, Baltimore; The Brooklyn Art Library, NY; Maxwell Fine Arts, Peekskill, NY. Pierleoni is represented in over 150 private and public collections in the U.S., Canada, Germany and China including Golden Artist Colors.
