THE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHY
BIOGRAPHY
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Through her lens, award-winning artist Gail Mancuso captures the ubiquitous but often overlooked silhouettes and reflections of the urban landscape, as well as the nuance, beauty and strength of the female form. With a discerning eye for color, balance and composition, she utilizes materials uncommon to traditional photography, including paint, torn papers, glass and fabric, along with digital imaging to subtly blur the boundary between photography and painterly impressions.
In her evolving abstract compositions, she uses the art of photography as a medium of experimentation. She often uses fragments of photographs together with other artistic elements to explore and develop ideas. Her diverse process is influenced by an ever-evolving aesthetic, which often leads to reinventing something new from its original context, lending a different perspective to the familiar.
Gail has received international recognition as the recipient of numerous photography awards, including those in France, Russia and Japan. She has shown her work in both solo and group exhibitions in the US and worldwide, including galleries in Chicago, New York, Venice, Paris, and Tokyo.
Beyond creating large-scale art for public and corporate installations, her limited-edition works are held in the mayors’ offices in Chicago and San Francisco, in the permanent collection at UIMA museum in Chicago, as well as private collections throughout the US, the UK and Italy.
Gail has been featured in various media, including World Art Dubai, Michigan Avenue, Modern Luxury and Chicago Woman Magazines, Inside Artists, Splash and on television with NBC Universal’s “Chicago Justice.”
STATEMENT
Photography awakens a world of exploration for me. My subjects span various genres, as I allow the intuitive process to guide me. Instead of capturing and using a single image straight from my camera, my typical workflow involves using fragments from multiple photographs to create layered compositions digitally. I deconstruct and reconstruct, reimagining the original imagery into collaged abstract forms. After developing initial ideas or concepts, I start by layering fragments that I believe will blend well together, experimenting and building as I go.
When creating, I focus on the flow, the interplay of color, shadow and light and the emotional response induced by my emerging composition. Often, a project varies significantly from its initial concept to a finished work. After printing and producing a work, I often add mediums such as paint, cold wax, and oil pencils to further enhance it. As an artist, I hope viewers connect personally with my work. I feel that the allure of art is not only visceral, but informed through the eyes of spiritual observation.