DREAM BODY to Open 3/7 at 709 Penn Gallery

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announces the opening of Dream Body, a video installation by local artist Blaine Siegel. The exhibition is on view at the Trust's 709 Penn Gallery in the Cultural District March 7-April 13, 2014. An opening reception will be held Friday, March 7, 2014, from 5:30 to 8 p.m., at 709 Penn Gallery.

The exhibition consists of two video projections with sculptural components. The first video is influenced by the infamous "The Hanged Man" tarot card. Hanging upside down from a tree, the man on the card has been abused and left alone. It is at this point of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion that the hanged man gains a fresh perspective and is able to see the world and his place in it. The first video-depicting a man's face slowly transitioning from sadness to awe-hangs from an apparatus referencing the hanging crook from the hangman children's game and is projected upside-down upon the wall.

"I am a story teller, an artist working within a narrative. The narrative for DREAM BODY is man's search for meaning through the experiences of the physical body," says artist Blaine Siegel. "I liken the videos in this exhibition to poetry. Like poetry, the interaction between the video and the sculptures evoke an emotional response, offering a glimpse into an upside-down quest for clarity."

The second video is a split image projected from a boulder set on the floor. The first image depicts a domestic still life, and the second image is the same still life, yet slightly altered. The objects in the second still life are subtly shifted and a new one appears, raising questions for the viewer.

Blaine Siegel earned a bachelor of fine arts in art photography from Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, and a master of fine arts in sculpture from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA. He has exhibited in both solo and group shows in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, South Carolina, Florida, New York, and Arles, France, as well as is the recipient of numerous awards and residencies.

709 Penn Gallery is a project of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. The gallery is located at 709 Penn Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh's Cultural District. Gallery Hours: Wed. & Thurs. 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sun.11 a.m.-5 p.m. The gallery is free and open to the public. For more information about all gallery exhibitions featured in the Cultural District, please visit www.TrustArts.org.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has overseen one of Pittsburgh's most historic transformations: turning a seedy red-light district into a magnet destination for arts lovers, residents, visitors, and business owners. Founded in 1984, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a non-profit arts organization whose mission is the cultural and economic revitalization of a 14-block arts and entertainment/residential neighborhood called the Cultural District. The District is one of the country's largest land masses "curated" by a single nonprofit arts organization. A major catalytic force in the city, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a unique model of how public-private partnerships can reinvent a city with authenticity, innovation and creativity. Using the arts as an economic catalyst, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has holistically created a world-renowned Cultural District that is revitalizing the city, improving the regional economy and enhancing Pittsburgh's quality of life. Thanks to the support of foundations, corporations, government agencies and thousands of private citizens, the Cultural Trust stands as a national model of urban redevelopment through the arts.