Collection: Diane Pieri

Bio

Since 1969 Diane Pieri has had 34 solo exhibitions, 217 national and international group exhibitions. She has been the recipient of two Pollock-Krasner Grants (1999/1992), two Independence Foundation Fellowships in the Arts (2001/2011), a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Grant (1992). She was included in the 2005 Philadelphia Invitational Portfolio, Philagrafika. She has been a fellow at Yaddo (1991), The MacDowell Colony (1990). In 1990 Pieri was an Artist-in-Residence at Mark diSuvero’s Socrates Sculpture Park where she created a 15 ft. sculpture, called Gateway.

In 2006 Pieri’s public art project, “Manayunk Stoops: Heart and Home”, a series of 9 seating elements fabricated in Italian tesserae, was installed along the Manayunk towpath through the Association for Public Art’s New Land Marks Program. Working with Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program, Pieri has completed 12 murals since 2001. Since 2009 she has completed 7 murals in College Station, Texas. In 2005 Pieri founded the Cooke Museum of Art at the Jay Cooke Elementary School in North Philadelphia. This museum was the only established museum within a Philadelphia public school. In 2012 she was invited to collaborate with Anthropologie to design a robe and loungers based on her images. In 2024, an image from the Phases of the Sun series was chosen to be reproduced for a Philly Eyeworks/Innervisions lens cloths.

Artist Statement

"In my studio I have many quotes to help keep me attentive, creative and emotionally human. One quote reads: What must be present are: Burning passion, unadulterated enthusiasm, perseverance, longing for a beautiful future. To me, these all touch important domains necessary for an artist and a human being.
I consider myself a Symbolic Abstractionist, incorporating meaningful symbols into fields of abstraction and pattern. For over 25 years, I have been deeply immersed in the almost unearthly beauty of Indian miniatures. My work weaves meaning, symbol, color and purposeful design into my need to offer beauty in the everyday.
Authenticity has always been of utmost importance, not only in my intentions but in the materials I use. Therefore, I work with 23 carat gold leaf, handmade papers, metallic candy wrappers, Indian wood blocks, decorative papers, collage and a variety of paints that give me a matte look and feel."