‘Behind Bank Street’ is the signature work by Bryan Gorneau of his ‘Prize Inside’ exhibition opening March 16, at the Provenance Center.

The Provenance Center in New London hosts the opening reception, on Saturday, March 16, from 7 to 9 p.m. of an exhibition by Old Lyme artist Bryan Gorneau titled, “Prize Inside.”  This exhibit will run from March 16 through April 20.

Born in 1981 Bryan Gorneau works as an artist in Old Lyme. He is the studio manager and resident artist of Studio 80+ Sculpture Grounds, where he fabricates large-scale metal sculpture.  Gorneau’s work for this exhibit takes a critical look at American social, political and cultural issues of the past century and how they were received by popular culture of the time as well as today.

Gorneau comments, “I often used historical artifacts or “Americana”, most commonly features from newspapers or popular magazines, as not only inspiration but often as a foundation upon which to create my art.  By using clear resin epoxy, I’ve been able to encase delicate material that would otherwise disintegrate, making it completely archival and timeless.  Although I use different processes throughout my body of work, continuity is created through personal exploration of process and methodology.”

All of Gorneau’s work is infused with a youthful curiosity and creative exploration as he deftly dismantles both objects and ideas, seeking to find a new way of understanding and portraying the world around him.  Indeed, the past century has been overloaded with a plethora of oftentimes confusing events and images, magnified as advances in communication technology have brought so much of this into our daily lives on an almost minute-to-minute basis.