| Joe Orffeo |
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Joseph Orffeo (American, 1926-) Western New York artist, painter and sculptor, studied at the Art Institute of Buffalo in the 1940’s and 50’s with influence from the likes of Robert Noel Blair (American, 1912-2003) and Charles Ephraim Burchfield (American, 1893-1967). Orffeo’s art developed in an atmosphere of experimentation, spanning several decades and through multiple mediums.
Upcoming exhibit for Joe Orffeo, Progressions Friday, Mar 26, 2010 - Saturday, Apr 24, 2010
Joe will also be participating in an upcoming LIVE online gallery discussion titled "USA A Life in Art", Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 8:00pm EST (USA) GMT-5, through vasa-project.com. Victor Shanchuk, of the Burchfield-Penney Art Center in Buffalo, NY will be conducting the interview. Interested people can participate in the LIVE discussion and can register to do so via the Vasa-Project website. Further information can be found at the following link. *Please Note: Registration is required to participate, and space may be limited, so interested persons are encouraged to register at the following registration link. Worldwide participants may also check their World Time for the LIVE discussion via the Vasa website. If you have any questions, you may contact Roberto Muffoletto, Director of the Vasa-Project at roberto@vasa-project.com
Whether inspired by the local countryside, southwestern mesas, or pure imagination, Orffeo’s watercolor works might best be described by Anthony Bannon, Director of the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY, “…Orffeo reduces, simplifies, clarifies the visions that are given to him. But his is a vision that begins in a voluptuous manner, in many colors, and absolutely unheard of before.”
Nancy Weekly, curator at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY, likens Orffeo’s approach to a concept quoted from Georgia O’Keefe, “I had to create an equivalent for what I felt about what I was looking at - not copy it.” Weekly asks of Orffeo’s work, “What greater equivalent could exist?”
Chronology:
1926- Born, January 5, Buffalo, NY.
1942-43- Studied at the Albright Art School, Buffalo, NY and at the Art Institute of Buffalo, NY.
1943-46- Served in World War II, in the Navy Armed Guard, South Pacific, received Combat Medal, China Service Medal and several other service medals.
1946-50- Studied at the Art Institute of Buffalo, Art Diploma Projects, Buffalo, NY.
1947- Acted in and designed sets for the film, “Seven Beers with the Wrong Women”, Buffalo, NY. Erie Public Library Film shown at the Buffalo Film Makers, CEPA and International Cinema, Toronto, ONT, Canada.
1947-48- Exhibited, three-man show, Midtown Theater Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
1951- Exhibited, first solo show, Art Institute of Buffalo, Buffalo, NY.
1952- Exhibited, three-man show, Junior League Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, juried group show, Cortland County Fair, Cortland, NY.
1953- Exhibited, three-man show, Ten Yellow Steps Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
1954- Exhibited, juried group show, Springfield Art League (Award), Springfield, MA.
1954-55- Exhibited, juried group show, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH.
1955-57- Exhibited, juried group shows, Western New York Shows, Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
1956- Exhibited, juried group show, Smith Art Museum, Springfield, MA.
1960-64- Art Instructor at the Hamburg Central School District, Adult Education Program, Hamburg, NY.
1968- Exhibited, solo show, Lakeview Gallery, Hamburg, NY.
1971- Head of Art Department and instructor for the Urban Art Project, Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, juried group show, Buffalo Society of Artists, Buffalo, NY.
1972- Exhibited, juried group show, Daytona Art League (Award), Daytona Beach, FL. Exhibited, juried group show, Stetson University Annual Exhibition (Award), Deland, FL.
1974- Painting instructor at the Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Art, Buffalo, NY. Wrote an article on contemporary art for Snapshots, a CEPA magazine, Center for Exploratory & Perceptual Arts, Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, juried group show, Buffalo Society of Artists, Buffalo, NY.
1976- Exhibited, two-man show, Gallery Wilde, Buffalo, NY.
1978-79- Exhibited, group shows, Burchfield Arts Center, Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, juried shows, Buffalo Society of Artists (Award 1978), Buffalo, NY.
1978-79-80- Exhibited, juried group show, Patteran Society of Artists, Buffalo, NY.
1980- Exhibited, group show, Kenan Center, Lockport, NY.
1981- Exhibited, group show, Carriage House Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
1982- Exhibited, group show, The Artists Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
1982-83-85- Exhibited, juried group shows, Members Gallery, Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
1983- Exhibited, group show, Tonawanda’s Council on The Arts, Tonawanda, NY.
1986- Exhibited, solo show, Burchfield Art Center, Buffalo, NY.
1987- Exhibited, group show, New Visions Gallery, Ithaca, NY.
1991- Exhibited, solo show, “New World Order”, Big Orbit Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
1992- Cover art for Buffalo Spree, Volume 26, No. 1, Spring, Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, group show, Big Orbit Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
1993- Exhibited, group show, Big Orbit Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, group show, “The Masters of Western New York”, Waligur-Doering Gallery, Hamburg, NY.
1999- Exhibited, two-man show, Arts Council of Buffalo/Erie County, Buffalo, NY.
1999-2000- Exhibited, group shows, Daemon College Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
2002- Exhibited, one-man show, “Shadows in Shadows”, Meibohm Fine Arts, East Aurora, NY. Exhibited, group show, Anderson/Big Orbit Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, group show, Art Dialogue Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, group show, Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, one-man show, at the Olean Public Library Gallery, Olean, NY. Exhibited, group show, “Big Orbit Gallery: Ten Years of Spin on Western New York Art.”, Big Orbit Gallery, hosted by the University at Buffalo Anderson Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
2004- Exhibited, group show, “Wet & Fresh: A Survey of Current Watercolor in Western New York”, Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY.
2005- Exhibited, solo show, “Fluid Elements”, Meibohm Fine Arts, East Aurora, NY.
2006- Exhibited, solo show, Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, group show, “An Alternative Course: The Art Institute of Buffalo”, Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY.
Upcoming Exhibition 2010- Solo show, “Progressions”, Meibohm Fine Arts, East Aurora, NY.
Collections: Burchfield-Penney Art Center permanent collection, Margaret L. Wendt Gallery, Buffalo, NY; Vern Stein Gallery, Buffalo, NY; Dean Perry, University of Buffalo, Buffalo, NY; Rich Products Corporation, Buffalo, NY.
Publications: Buffalo Evening News, “Beards and Brawn in Boston—The Harbor’s Opening Day”, Picture Page, “They’re pulling for a Big Celebration of the Town of Boston’s Sesquicentennial”, Tug-of-war team photo, Herbert H. Klein, Harold Dinse, William Christen, Joseph Orffeo, James VanLare, Rollin Pfanner, and Louis Liebler, Saturday, April 15, 1967; Snapshots, a CEPA magazine, article by Joe Orffeo on contemporary art, unknown issue and page number(s), Center for Exploratory & Perceptual Arts, Buffalo, NY; Welcome-Western New York, Owl Professional Publications, Inc., Buffalo, NY, pg. 44 with interior artwork, (1981); Buffalo Spree, (cover art), Volume 26, No. 1, Spring, (1992); Western New York Artist Coloring Book, Buffalo, NY, (1993); Big Orbit Gallery: Ten Years of Spin on Western New York Art: Selected Exhibitions, exhibition catalog, pgs. 5, 25 & 78, Buffalo, NY, (2002); Watercolor-An American Artist Publication, (2004); Multicultural Education, the Internet, and the New Media, edited by Roberto Muffoletto and Julie Horton, (cover art), Hampton Press, Inc., Cresskill, NJ, (2007); Burchfield Penney Art Center: Grand Opening November 22, 2008, Burchfield-Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College, inaugural exhibition catalog, pg. 58, (2008); Richard Hamilton Stamps, “The Masters of Western New York”, Waligur-Doering Gallery, October 31st to November 24th, (1993).
Other Projects: International Cinema Exhibitions, Philadelphia, PA, (1981); Half Reel Cinema-Channel 7 TV, (2005).
Joseph has numerous art books available for purchase or download (PDF format) through Lulu.com, which he has designed and published himself. The different book series feature numerous watercolor & oil paintings, drawings and other works on paper, that chronicle his works from 1946-Present. Another book, titled 17 Artists, features seventeen well known Western New York Artists. Please follow the link
(Rewritten & compiled chronologically by Mark Strong of Meibohm Fine Arts, Inc., East Aurora, NY, 2008, Sources: Prior info from our internal records and website; Joseph Orffeo’s personal chronicled biography, 2007 and selected publications; Buffalo Evening News, “Beards and Brawn in Boston—The Harbor’s Opening Day”, Picture Page, “They’re pulling for a Big Celebration of the Town of Boston’s Sesquicentennial”, Tug-of-war team photo, Saturday, April 15, 1967; Welcome-Western New York book, Owl Professional Publications, Inc., Buffalo, NY, (1987-1988); Big Orbit Gallery: Ten Years of Spin on Western New York Art: Selected Exhibitions, Big Orbit Gallery exhibition catalog, Buffalo, NY, 2002; Buffalo Spree, magazine, Volume 26, No. 1, Spring, 1992; Multicultural Education, the Internet, and the New Media, edited by Roberto Muffoletto and Julie Horton, Hampton Press, Inc., Cresskill, NJ, 2007; Burchfield Penney Art Center: Grand Opening November 22, 2008, Burchfield-Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College, inaugural exhibition catalog; Quote from Anthony Bannon, Director of the George Eastman House, Rochester, NY; Quote from Nancy Weekly, curator at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY; www.lulu.com; Richard Hamilton Stamps, “The Masters of Western New York”, Waligur-Doering Gallery, October 31st to November 24th, 1993.)
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