Thursday, April 12, 2018
Staff report
YOUNGSTOWN
An exhibition of works by Youngstown artist Jim Pernotto will open Friday at the Tyler History Center, 325 W. Federal St., and run for three months.
Titled “Jim Pernotto: I’m Still Learning,” the exhibition is a selection of works created by the artist over the past 50 years, beginning with his earliest works in the design department of the Cafaro Co.
Some of the artworks are playful, including pieces of a “King Toot” exhibition Pernotto created for a children’s museum in Wisconsin. “They hired me to do a traveling children’s show, and the King Tut exhibition was opening in Chicago at the time,” said Pernotto. “I took photos of the King Tut artifacts and parodied them with contemporary items.”
The pieces include models of statues and busts that should elicit smiles.
Another segment of the exhibition includes stark black-and-white photographs that Pernotto took of the steel mills of Youngstown in 1971.
The show will open with a reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Tyler.
Pernotto will also have a silent auction of works from his personal collection on April 20 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Soap Gallery, 117 S. Champion St., downtown. Proceeds will benefit Next Best Art, the arts organization that Pernotto founded.
The auction will include live music, Redhead Wine and hors d’oeuvres by Jeff Chrystal.