Brother Kenneth Chapman Gallery
presents Considering the Goddess

 The Brother Kenneth Chapman Gallery presents the first exhibition of 2022 exhibition, Considering the Goddess; A Survey of Sculptural Works by John Cino, curated by Beth Giacummo, on view through March 9. A Virtual Artist Lecture will take place on ZOOM February 9 at 7:00 pm and a closing reception with the artist will take place on March 8 from 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm.

Considering the Goddess; A Survey of Sculptural Works by John Cino explores a single theme – Mother Goddess as the subject and inspiration for countless works spanning the artists career since 1987. 

Inspired by his first introduction to the Mother Goddess through Joseph Campbell’s epic four volume treatise The Masks of the Gods. Through analysis of art and texts Campbell charts the development of mythologies from Paleolithic hunter gathers through medieval feudalism.  Apropos to this exhibit is his discussion on the Neolithic agricultural revolution and the rise of ancient civilizations. During the Neolithic Campbell infers a matriarchal society worshipping deities of the Earth Mother and fertility. 

Cino weaves a visual narrative of the evolution of the Mother Goddess that incorporates ideas of sacred geometry, architecture, and the rhythmic progressions in the music of Steve Reich. This is seen in his earlier works that include pyramid forms with a laboriously created weathered surface mimicking the weathering of ancient monuments. Works completed later introduce circles, spirals, fractal forms, and the golden mean as the surfaces transitioned to smooth surfaces and employed traditional wood carving techniques.

There is no telling the future, nor where my work will go during the remainder of my career.  But I do know that the Mother Goddess will remain dear to my heart and that a greater appreciation of the Mother, our home Earth and the sacredness of the feminine are necessary in returning our world to balance. – John Cino

Iona College Art Center, 665 North Avenue, New Rochelle.