David Ivie and Mario Petrirena | remember, in memory of
Exhibition Dates: February 8 - March 22, 2025
Reception: February 8, 2-5 pm
Sandler Hudson Gallery is pleased to announce a two-person exhibition featuring the works of London-based artist David Ivie and Atlanta-based artist Mario Petrirena.
In this multi-media exhibition (bronze, clay, drawing, and painting), Petrirena and Ivie navigate the shifting terrain of memory—its weight, fractures, and endurance. Ivie employs figuration and landscape while Petrirena uses recurring tree motifs to suggest stories left unspoken, layered, and unfolding. Together, their works explore the tension between what is remembered and what remains concealed.
David Ivie, born 1962, attended the Atlanta College of Art before receiving a Master of Social Work from the University of Georgia, an unexpected yet appropriate path for an artist dealing with concepts related to memory and perception. His work is multilayered and introspective; he dissolves the boundary between personal experience and collective imagery, holding tension between what is seen and remembered. His work has been exhibited at the Elizabeth Harris Gallery in New York and Sandler Hudson Gallery in Atlanta among others, and work included in the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MOCA). Ivie has been awarded residency and support from the Southern Arts Federation/National Endowment for the Arts and the Bellagio Study Center in Italy.
Beyond his traditional practice, Ivie has worked in film as a visual consultant and storyboard artist, contributing to projects like the 2001 psychological thriller Frailty. His work has appeared in Art in America and The New York Times, noted for its ability to collapse the boundaries between fine art and narrative storytelling.
Mario Petrirena works with a variety of mediums concerning sculpture to installations. As a Cuban native currently living and working in Atlanta, GA, previous themes explored by Petrirena encompass complexities surrounding dual heritage and identity. Petrirena attended the Rochester Institute of Technology's School of American Crafts and the University of Florida. His work is held in the collections of the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; the Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, FL; Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport; the Cintas Foundation, NY; the Carter Presidential Center; the Paul Jones Collection at the University of Delaware; MOCA GA (Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia); the Ogden Museum in New Orleans; and numerous private collections. His work has been shown in solo exhibitions with Sandler Hudson Gallery, City Gallery East, the President’s Gallery at Brenau University, and the Ogden Museum in New Orleans. Over his 30-year career as an artist, Petrirena has received awards, including but not limited to a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, and the Hambidge Fellowship.