This exhibition is anchored by DeGennaro’s series of Platonic Solids, completed in 2018.  The five solids—tetrahedron, octahedron, icosahedron, cube, and dodecahedron—were first recorded by the ancient Greek mathematician, Euclid; a thinker who “looked upon beauty bare,” to use the words of Edna St. Vincent Millay.  Each of the forms’ lines and planes are equal and even, perfectly balanced and symmetrical.  Later, the philosopher Plato associated each of these polyhedrons with an element: fire, air, water, earth, or cosmos. Plato’s connection between symbol and element fostered the belief that all aspects of the physical world are composed of these five geometric forms.

Like a studious monk pouring over pages of scripture, DeGennaro investigates both the mathematical and symbolic dimensions of the Platonic solids.  She then takes to the meditative labor of painting, creating works with the gravity of sacred tomes.  Her paintings’ mesmerizing patterns and optical illusions reveal specific choices beneath their seamless first impression.  She is looking for a balance of abstraction and representation, a way for ethereal ideas to find their level within the physical, three-dimensional space where we all relate.  The colorful, carefully calibrated illusions that these paintings project draw the viewer in to look closer.  And slower.

Like the oil paint and cold wax of these compositions, we all emanate our own unique luminosity. Each person in this three-dimensional realm exists with ideas and beliefs that are expansive and classically beautiful simply because of their existence.  To return to Millay, we “seek release from dusty bondage into luminous air.”  DeGennaro charts the way for us, rooted in what is sacred and real. Yes, the world is full of many infinite things, but it all comes back to five primary forms.

—Text by artist and writer, Hannah Bevens