UGA Cortona is pleased to announce the opening of the end-of-residence exhibition of our outgoing Visiting Artist, Bryan Parnham.

What’s Here/Cos’è qui is a collection of works by artist Bryan Parnham, all made in Cortona during the past year and predominantly in the past six months.

Parnham first came to Cortona in the Fall of 2012 as a student in the University of Georgia’s study abroad program. Seven years later, in 2019, he returned to work as UGA Cortona’s Visiting Artist/Facilities Manager, an 18-month position that gave Parnham the opportunity to travel extensively with UGA students to cities and towns around Italy. In March 2020, the participants of the UGA program returned to the United States due to the outbreak of Covid-19.  Parnham remained in Cortona and continued to create, and it was during this time that most of the work seen here was made.

Collecting inspiration and influence from his surroundings, Parnham created these works as a symbolic journal of his time in Italy, a way to digest his experience of Italy’s dense history and culture.  The imagery in this body of work is based on photographs made by Parnham on traditional 35mm film, from a range of sources: Renaissance sculpture, by-gone payphone currency, and in one work titled Pietra Dura, from the MAEC’s own collection. Parnham’s color choices are sampled from medieval paintings, the walls of Cortona’s homes, and the Valdichiana valley.  The resulting representations, either etched and painted or assembled from pieces of sheet metal in the style of pietra dura, show the stylistic influence of American artists such as John Baldessari and Italian graphic designers of the 1950s and 60s such as Max Huber and Franco Grignani.

The title of the exhibition, What’s Here/Cos'è qui, points at the uniquely Italian inspirations the artist has found during his time in this country. What’s Here/Cos'è qui also refers to the time in which we all currently find ourselves: when trying times cause us to focus on what we have lost, we can still hope to appreciate “what’s here”.

Stop by the MAEC museum in Cortona on Friday, July 17, at 5:30 pm, to view work in metal created by Parnham during his 18-month residency in Cortona, and to meet the artist in person. Admission to the MAEC is free for the opening - vi aspettiamo!