Art professor’s exhibition opens at the Butler Institute

An exhibit featuring paintings from Dragana Crnjak, associate professor of Art at Youngstown State University, opens Sunday, Aug. 20, at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown.

The show, titled “As if Staying” runs until Nov. 5, 2017, and features 13 paintings inspired by images of patterns found in Serbian embroidery, architecture and various works of art Crnjak gathered while visiting Serbian Orthodox medieval monasteries during her sabbatical in 2015.

Through the process of manipulation and enlargement, Crnjak takes these images and enlarges them on to a landscape-like field to create abstract art. The shifting and drifting geometries, dissolving and interrupted patterns take a pattern and make it into something abstract, while also weaving together traditional with contemporary visual elements, transforming familiar images into something unknown and new.

Crnjak has exhibited internationally, nationally and regionally in locations such as Mexico, New York, Boston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Columbus.

The exhibition is free and open to the public. A meet-the-artist reception will be held 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 20.