Exhibit:
Joseph Fiore: Painter/Teacher
Including works by: Don Alter, Richard Bogart, Fielding Dawson, Jorge Fick, Tom Field, Mary Fitton, Frank Hursch, Basil King, Dan Rice, Dorothea Rockburne, and Jerry van de Wiele

December 9, 2005 - April 8, 2006
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center
Wed-Sat, 12pm-4pm

Opening Reception:
Friday, December 9, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
$3, Free for BMCM+AC members

Joseph Fiore: Painter/Teacher gathers together for the first time works by Joseph Fiore and eleven of his Black Mountain College students. Significantly, all of the work in the exhibition was created at Black Mountain College or very shortly thereafter. For this reason the exhibition provides an in-depth look at the aesthetic concerns and art practices of the time. Since Black Mountain College has become synonymous with artisitc excellence and experimentation, this exhibition gives a valuable first-hand look at the work actually being produced in the studios at the college.

Influential painter and teacher Joseph Fiore first went to Black Mountain College in 1946. In 1949 he became a member of the college's faculty and taught Art until 1956 when the college closed. He then moved to New York City and became involved with the 10th Street Art Scene of the late 1950s and 1960s, a group of galleries that showed his work and the work of Alex Katz, Lois Dodd, Bernard Langlais, and others. Fiore later resumed his teaching career at The Philadelphia College of Art, The Maryland Institute College of Art and the National Academy. He has had one-person shows in New York at Staempfli Gallery (reviewed by Fairfield Porter), Schoelkoph Gallery, Fischbach Gallery, and others. His work is in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum, Corcoran Gallery and the National Academy, among others. In May of 2001, Joseph Fiore was awarded the Andrew Carnegie Prize at the National Academy of Design in New York. The Carnegie Prize is awarded "for painting," at the National Academy's Members' Show and carries a stipend.

In 1946 as a student at Black Mountain College, Joe Fiore studied with Josef Albers and Ilya Bolotowsky. Later, he studied with Willem de Kooning, Jacob Lawrence and Jean Varda. When Josef Albers left Black Mountain in 1949, Fiore was invited to teach Painting and Drawing, and he remained on the faculty until the college closed in 1956. Fiore is acknowledged by his students as an outstanding teacher as well as a gifted artist; many of his students went on to become successful artists, most notably Dorothea Rockburne.

Image citation:
Joseph Fiore
#7-54
1954
Oil on canvas
34" x 50"
Collection of the artist

The Black Mountain College Museum & Arts Center preserves and continues the unique legacy of educational and artistic innovation of Black Mountain College for public study and enjoyment. We achieve our mission through collection, conservation, and educational activities including exhibitions, publications, and public programs.