30 Years of Snow: The Calligraphy of Anna Pinto
is on view in the Upper Gallery of the Hoboken Historical Museum, 1301 Hudson
Street, through December 31, 2017. The exhibition features holiday cards made
by Pinto for family and close friends. They are mostly three-part creations:
often a calligraphic interpretation of the word ‘snow’ (or a stencil or another
mysterious method), an image evoking snow (sometimes combined with the word
itself), and a few lines of text, often a haiku or poetry. The authors
include
Thoreau, Maya Angelou,
and Wendy Wasserstein, and stretch back to
the eighteenth century. The images are equally wide ranging and this year for the
first time there is a photograph by the artist herself.
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| Anna Pinto |
Amazingly labor intensive, these cards were
produced in good years and troubled years such as 2012 after Hurricane Sandy
strongly impacted Pinto, her family, and her neighbors.
Shown at the Museum in chronological order, the
cards are accompanied by preparatory materials. There is the stencil used to
make the word ‘snow’ and calligraphy that was later reproduced, as well as
notes that explain the processes used in making the final versions. In one of my
favorites the letters of ‘snow’ were written in small dashes that look a little
like the holes on early computer punch cards – the artistic masquerading as the
mechanical.
The show is mounted in vitrines that allow the
viewer to stand within inches of the fine detail work. It’s an amazingly
attractive and user-friendly installation and fits the space beautifully.
 |
| 30 Years of Snow: The Calligraphy of Anna Pinto |
On view on the first floor is World War I
Centennial, 1917-2017, Heaven, Hell or Hoboken. The city was a ‘main point of
embarkation’ for the US Expeditionary Forces headed for Europe. The exhibition
explores the changes that the military brought as well as the experiences of
one soldier, Hoboken-native Private First Class Peter G. Spinetto. His letters
home, his uniform, and even his gas mask, are on view.
 |
| The gas mask with its case and a photograph of Private Spinetto. |
There is also a wire chair with a piece of stone
from the bridge that crossed the River Marne at Chateau Thierry. That bridge
was destroyed on June 1, 1918, to prevent the German Army from crossing it. It
was the beginning of the American forces taking an active part in the war and
is considered a major turning point as the French and Americans held off the
German advance less than fifty miles from Paris.
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| Chair with stone from the bridge over the River Marne at Chateau Thierry, France. |
The Museum itself is housed in the Bethlehem
Steel machine shop building. The oldest section dates to 1890 and was
constructed by the W & A Fletcher Company. It was enlarged in 1906 and
again in 1944 and was in use until 1984. This is, well was, ‘On the Waterfront’
country. Hoboken is thriving and fashionable and charming. Shouldn’t need to add,
but I will, that the Frank Sinatra tribute lives on at the Museum.
Link to Pinto’s page at the Gallery site:
http://www.susantellergallery.com/cgi/STG_art.pl?artist=pinto_a
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