Cogar Gallery Features Works by Dan Bacich 
August 02, 2011
Herkimer County Community College’s Cogar Gallery will feature “Diminished Things,” paintings and assemblage by Syracuse, NY artist Dan Bacich, from August 25-September 27, 2011.
Bacich, born in Syracuse, was educated at Harvard College ‘81. He spent six years in Germany and France before returning to Boston to work for The Princeton Review. In 1996 he returned home to care for his mother and younger sister, both wheelchair bound. His artistic endeavors date from this homecoming. His works have been exhibited throughout New York State and have won numerous awards.
“There are many ways this collection of paintings and assemblages can be considered diminished,” Bacich said. “First, there is the second-hand nature of the subject matter and materials. A hoarder at heart, I am attracted to faded, broken and discarded things that are well-worn and past their prime. Secondly, there is the obvious topic of size. My canvases and boxes have been getting smaller over time. It is becoming easier for me to think inside of the box than to create outside it. As well, I relish working small, particularly when the small intersects issues that are large.
“A third connection is thematic; my work dwells on matters pertaining to change, transformation and the passage of time. My response to the transitory is to memorialize the momentary. Finally there is a personal correlation. My mother died last November. I was her caregiver for the past 15 years and in my spare time created the work exhibited here. Now many months later, my life and consciousness are forever altered by her passing. Everything, it seems, is diminished in her absence,” he said.
The opening reception for “Diminished Things” will be held Thursday, August 25, 2011 from 7-9 p.m. in the Cogar Gallery. The Gallery is located in the Hummel Corporate and Professional Education Center, at the main entrance to the McLaughlin College Center. It is open to the public free of charge Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. when the College is open. Visit online at http://www.herkimer.edu/cogar.