Hofstra University Museum Presents
“B.Amore: Naples – New York”
Exhibition Includes Site-Specific Installations Exploring the Connections Between Naples and New York
Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY – “B. Amore: Naples – New York” on view from September 30 through December 4, 2011 in the Hofstra University Museum’s David Filderman Gallery, will feature two site-specific installations and over 18 other mixed media works created for this original exhibition by the highly regarded American artist B. Amore. The works focus on the cultural and historic connections between Naples, Italy and New York, NY and examine the connections between people and the issues of assimilation, specifically those experiences linking Italy to America. B. Amore’s work combines a variety of materials, found objects, historical data and writings.
“B. Amore weaves together, in her installations and wall mounted works, the ephemera, music, and other historic, cultural and artistic elements that bring to life, for the viewer, the Italian-American immigrant experience,” said Hofstra University Museum Executive Director Beth E. Levinthal. “Her talents are quite evident in this unique and vibrant exhibition.”
A fully illustrated four color catalogue with an essay by Hofstra University Professor of Comparative Literature and Languages Pellegrino D’Acierno accompanies the exhibit.
Public programming planned to accompany the exhibition includes Between Two Shores, a poetry reading featuring poems that touch upon the life and cultures of both Naples and New York, on October 15, 2011 at 2 p.m. in the David Filderman Gallery. The chosen poems will be read by B.Amore as well as invited guest poets of Italian-American descent including Louisa Calio, Pellegrino D’Acierno, Fred Gardaphe, George Guida, and Bob Viscussi. Bella Notte: A Beautiful Night of Italian Song, on November 5, 2011 at 8 p.m. in the Rochelle and Irwin Lowenfeld Conference and Exhibition Hall, will feature Hofstra University Department of Music faculty member Marilyn Lehman and other performers in selections of Neapolitan standards and favorite Italian arias. On Wednesday, November 9, 2011 at 1 p.m., Looking at Art 101 will be offered in the David Filderman Gallery. This popular program led by Museum Education Director at the Hofstra University Museum Nancy Richner, will draw on the participants’ life experiences and use works from B. Amore: Naples – New York to enhance personal capabilities to interpret and discuss works of art.
This exhibit coincides with a three-day conference Delirious Naples: For a Cultural, Intellectual and Urban History of the City of the Sun, sponsored by the Hofstra University Cultural Center and the Hofstra University Museum, on November 16 - 19, 2011. For more information on this conference please visit http://www.hofstra.edu/Community/culctr/ . For more information on this exhibit and associated public programs please call (516) 463-5672 or visit the Hofstra University website at www.hofstra.edu/museum. The Hofstra University Museum has been awarded the highest honor a museum can receive, continued accreditation by the American Association of Museums (AAM). Approximately 4% of museums nationwide have earned this distinguished recognition. Accreditation certifies that the Hofstra University Museum operates according to professional standards, manages its collections responsibly and provides quality service to the public. Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution of higher education where more than 12,000 full and part-time students choose from undergraduate and graduate offerings in liberal arts and sciences, business, engineering, communication, education, health and human services, honors studies, a School of Law and the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine.
Media Contact: Lindsey Calabrese, 516-463-4687, 516-320-0695 (cell)
Museum Contact: Tiffany Jordan, 516-463-3565