Joseph Cavalieri: Translating Modern Fables into Stained Glass
Joseph Cavalieri’s merging of contemporary imagery with the traditional processes of painted stained glass has resulted in a highly recognizable and unforgettable body of work. Using an art form with a powerful spiritual history, the artist pays homage to historic fables, contemporary pop art, and human and architectural icons in autonomous panels that often combine detailed narrative and humor.
Cavalieri’s 2017 solo show at the Ivy Brown Gallery, in Chelsea, NewYork, featured 15 new works portraying personalities such as San Gennaro, Jackie O, Helen Hayes, and a young Ulysses S. Grant, as well as architectural landmarks like the Flat Iron building and the Dakota. His work is part of permanent New York City collections such as that of the Museum of Arts and Design; the Italian American Museum; and the Leslie-Lohman Museum. Cavalieri’s collectors include two Simpson’s writers in Los Angeles, California, and movie director Morgan Spurlock.
In addition to work for gallery exhibitions, Cavalieri creates both private and public commissions. He was selected by The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Arts for Transit department to design a public art installation at the Philipse Manor Train Station in Westchester, New York. Additionally, in October and November 2017, the artist fabricated and installed a six-foot stained glass church window during a two-month residency in Salvador, Brazil. In the last 10 years, Cavalieri has been awarded 15 different art residency programs around the world.
A native New York artist and educator, Cavalieri has taught painting, airbrushing, and printing on stained glass in over 30 different locations including the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York; Penland School of Crafts, Spruce Pine, North Carolina; and UrbanGlass in Brooklyn, New York. The artist also teaches internationally, including workshops at Lourdes Zenobi Glass Art in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Delhi College of the Arts, India. In 2015 he was invited to be the keynote speaker for the Glass Society of Ireland and National College of Art and Design.