The first event, hosted by L’attitude Gallery on Newbury Street in Boston, Mass., runs from May 15 through July 6, 2008. Titled “Arcs and Angles,” the show features Cipriani’s paintings, many of them new “Passages,” along with sculptures by Rob Lorenson. An opening reception will be held May 17 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. The Cape Cod Museum of Art in Dennis, Mass., will host a solo exhibition of the painter’s work from May 1 to June 7, 2009.

Cipriani’s stylized “Passages” landscapes interweave past, present, and future, bringing together glimpses of life, places, and memories in one place-in one moment. Fragments of grasses, marshes, bays, beaches, mountains, and ocean blur and commingle with transcendent elements that exist in paint for the first time.

“When I work on this series, I am simultaneously immersed in thinking about the painting and the act of painting,” he says. “What I’m creating and the act of creating are so close together in time as to be almost simultaneous at some points.”

Using pumice, sand, heavy gel mediums, and varnishes, Cipriani builds texture upon texture. The top of a “Passages” painting is quite smooth. The surface gradually intensifies towards the bottom, which can be as thick and sculptural as stone or stucco.

To view paintings in Cipriani’s “Passages” series, visit http://www.robertcipriani.com/montage.html and click through pages 1, 5, and 6. For more information on the painter and his body of work, visit www.robertcipriani.com.

About Robert Cipriani

A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Cipriani is both a professional artist and a noted graphic designer. He has won over 800 regional, national, and international design awards. His paintings are represented by numerous galleries and have garnered a variety of acclaim, including an “Artist of the Year, Painting” designation from the Cambridge Art Association and the “Directors’ Choice: Best Cape Cod Landscape” award at the 2007 Juried All Cape Cod Show. In May 2009, his paintings will be featured in a solo exhibition, curated by Exhibitions Curator Michael Giaquinto, at the Cape Cod Museum of Art in Dennis.

Drawing many parallels between design and abstract painting, Cipriani says the two involve conceptual “solutions that flow naturally from well-defined objectives.” Both are derived from a passion for creativity and discovery and the use of color, format, line, and texture for representation, emotion, and effect.

“I approach all of my work with the objective of being spontaneous and precise at the same moment,” he says. “All within the halo of a consistent vision.”

Cipriani expresses himself in multiple outlooks and mediums in both design and painting. His need for experimentation has led to a variety of titled painting series, including “Cyclops,” completed with only one seeing eye due to a temporary impairment; “Hemingway,” inspired by the author’s powerful and evocative novel titles; and “Totem,” loosely based on the forms of Native American totem poles. “I experiment with short series of paintings, then move on and try others. Occasionally I pause and do an extended series,” he says.

These paintings are crafted in mixed media-acrylics, modeling mediums, and collage-and are often heavily built up, over-painted, scribed, and somewhat sculptural. Despite the abstract series’ different looks, the creative process is the same.

About Robert Cipriani:

A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Robert Cipriani is both a professional artist and a noted graphic designer. He has won over 800 regional, national, and international design awards. His paintings are represented by numerous galleries and have garnered a variety of acclaim, including an “Artist of the Year, Painting” designation from the Cambridge Art Association and the “Director’s Choice: Best Cape Cod Landscape” award at the 2007 Juried All Cape Cod Show. In April 2009, his abstract paintings will be featured in a solo exhibition, curated by Michael Giaquinto, at the Cape Cod Museum of Art in Dennis.

To view paintings in Cipriani’s abstract series, visit http://www.robertcipriani.com/press.html and click on Abstract News Release.