Last Thursday, May 2, Roosevelt Island’s Gallery RIVAA opened a new Pop Up art exhibit featuring abstract painting by local resident and artist Ioan Popoin , displayed in the first floor window commercial space

and building lobby

of the Tata Innovation Center

on the Cornell Tech campus. There are no hours to the exhibition. You can come by at any time during the day to view the painting thru the first floor window commercial space and in the lobby when the building is open. The paintings are on view for approximately 2 months. RIVAA Board Member Jim Pignetti welcomed those who gathered for the opening and introduced the artist noting:

… It’s an honor and privilege to partner with Cornell Tech in adding more beauty to an already fantastic campus. Ioan’s extraordinary abstractions ignite an otherwise empty commercial space and hopefully they’ll ignite the minds and spirits of all who wander by, Cornell Tech students and staff, community members and visitors….

I hope my constant pushing can now be understood through the lens of this event…

… Ioan, your work speaks for itself. Color, gesture, form, movement. They transport us visually and emotionally to a new and fresh place, something that we all need nowadays…

Mr Pignetti added:

It is with great pleasure that I present Ioan Popoius paintings here at the Tata Innovation Center. This is another installment in RIVAAs – the Roosevelt Island Visual Artists Association – Island of Art Initiative.

Its an honor and privilege to partner with Cornell Tech in adding more beauty to an already fantastic campus. Ioans extraordinary abstractions ignite an otherwise empty commercial space and hopefully theyll ignite the minds and spirits of all who wander by, Cornell Tech students and staff, community members, and visitors.

There are several thank yous Id like to share gratitude goes to Dan Cooke, Joseph Cassissa, Juliet Wiessman, and Elysa Marden. We got to know one another thru the email correspondence required to make an event like this real. I hope my constant pushing can now be understood thru the lens of this moment. At RIVAA, thanks go to Laura Hussey and Margie Smith, who participated in meetings and provided counsel. And most importantly thank you Tad Sudol, our president, without his vision none of this would, or could happen.

Finally thank you Ioan for your wonderful paintings Ioans work speaks for itself color, gesture, form, movement they transport us visually, and emotionally to a new and fresh place, something that we all need in these trying times