Student Tribune

Tony Leuzzi and Peter Monacelli's "Meditations: An Art and Poetry Collaboration" on Display in Building 12

Tony Leuzzi (English/Philosophy) and Pete Monacelli (Visual and Performing Arts) have collaborated on a poetry-visual art series called "Meditations: An Art and Poetry Collaboration." The series is currently on display in the first and second floor display cases in building 12.

Comprised of 19 poems and 19 corresponding works of visual art, MEDITATIONS marks the third time Leuzzi and Monacelli have collaborated in a reverse-ekphrastic process, where art responds to the poetry. "Tony and I are spiritually connected," Pete Monacelli says. "We might be vastly different in age, but we're always on the same wave length." Leuzzi concurs: "We share an aesthetic and spiritual temperament that enables us to work easily together. Our collaborations are always surprising and new, yet we don't have to strain ourselves to get where we need to go." Recently, Monacelli and Leuzzi collaborated on a book of poems and visual art for a fundraiser for the Rochester Contemporary (ROCO) art gallery. "I gave Pete 41 poems--in celebration of ROCO's 40th year, plus one poem for luck--and Pete painted 41 corresponding pieces. The book was called "40+1"--and Pete's work was stunning." Production for that fundraising effort was co-sponsored by ROCO and Kodak. As enjoyable as "40+1" was to put together, Monacelli and Leuzzi are even more excited about MEDITATIONS. "The poems are simple and complex at the same time," Monacelli enthuses. "They are koan-like meditations. I love that." Leuzzi is similarly enthusiastic about Pete's mixed media pieces: "The work is so controlled, yet wild. If you view the sequence chronologically, you'll see an architectural motif asserting itself more and more prominently throughout until it begins to become abstracted again. There's a real movement, just as there is a real movement in the poems. Pete is always able to get under the skin of whatever I'm doing." MEDITATIONS will be on display in the building twelve cases throughout the month of February.

Ortiz, Margarita
English/Philosophy
02/02/2018