Alycia Bardon, Digital Communication ‘22
Opening reception of Bart Lentini’s solo art exhibition took place on October 13, 2021, where Georgian Court and Dr. Marci Mazzarotto, GCU assistant professor and coordinator of the digital communication program, has curated an exhibited to highlight his collection. Abandoned places sit in silence, left to decay and rot with years of history forgotten but Bart Lentini, a New Jersey based photographer wants to showcase these places.
During the reception, Lentini said that he is glad to be here and that it is good to see that people are enjoying it. For Lentini, his collection offers an inside view of what it is like to be an explorer watching the world change and seeing these forgotten places be reclaimed by time and nature. Some of the places Lentini has featured in his photography include churches, theaters, hospitals, and schools.
Lentini said that he goes to abandoned places because he “likes the way it makes me feel.”
Catherine Cooke, A student at GCU double majoring in English and Digital Communication, said that she finds the exhibit “unique when you think of visual art.” Cooke goes on to mention that the exhibit makes her stop and think of the people who have been to these places. Cooke also points out that we can get caught up in the hustle and bustle of daily life and yet these quiet places exist.
Kristen Park Wedlock, assistant professor in the department of English said that the exhibit brings up the question of what happens when scared spaces are left in a state of disrepair.
Professor Wedlock said that “as the pandemic persists, which places are we curating and which ones are we dismissing? These photographs remind me of the ecopoetics of Gary Snyder and C.S. Giscombe: what happens at the fence – the third space – the distinction between wilderness and wildness. In the absence of human use, what reclaims the places we once occupied? Lentini’s photography centers the ruin and ruins as sites of resistance and resilience.”
From October 14 to November 17, the gallery will be open Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm and is free and open to the public. Attendees must register at bartlentiniartgallery.eventbrite.com.
