About the exhibition:

A trip to the Svalbard Archipelago, right above the Arctic Circle in May of 2019 created a lasting impression on artist, Pia De Girolamo. The rugged isolated expanse felt like a new planet to Pia, inspiring this series of paintings. So far north, the sun never set but merely dipped to just above the horizon where it shown weakly before it rose again. The changing light could transform the landscape from a blazing bright vision to a brooding, moody vista. 

 Upon her return to Philadelphia, Pia reviewed her sketches and photos. She found it easy to carry the images onto canvas. Processing the isolated landscapes through painting, it sunk in for Pia that the Anthropocene is fully upon us. “I hope that these paintings are a reminder to others that there is beauty and life and treasures on the top of the world that is worth saving. If we save it, we save ourselves.” – Pia De Girolamo.

Northern Latitudes will be exhibited at Atria Senior Living Center City until January 26th, 2022. Pia’s artwork will be on view in the Art Gallery on the 5th floor, which can be enjoyed by residents and staff.

About the Artist:

Pia De Girolamo is an accomplished painter living and working in the Greater Philadelphia area whose recent exhibitions featured large-scale paintings based on abstracted mountain landscapes, as well as a series evoking the urban landscapes of Rome and Italy. She has had thirteen solo exhibitions, most recently at the Museo Mastroianni, within the Musei di San Salvatore in Lauro in Rome and the Cerulean Arts Gallery in Philadelphia. She has also shown extensively in group exhibitions regionally. De Girolamo has a BA in Art History from Barnard College, Columbia University and an MD degree from the University of Rochester. She lectures on the relationship between art and medicine as well as the connections between art, nature, and health. Her awarded work has been acquired for collections by the Museo Mastroianni, Rome, PNC Bank, Pittsburgh, PA and Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia and has been highlighted in Hollywood feature films.