Devin Kovach
TU Rome, Professor of Visual Arts
Devin Kovach
Mausoleum
Silkscreen on Plexiglass
20” x 27.5”
2018
Why did I invite Maria Pina Bentivenga?
I’ve been aware of Maria Pina Bentivenga’s work for a number of years; she was a significant contributor to the exhibition Impronte Romane that we hosted in 2018; and her works also featured in the publication on contemporary printmaking that I edited with my colleague Dr. Sarah Linford, “Force Fields: Rome and Contemporary Printmaking.” Suffice it to say I have long admired the way that she uses the language of intaglio etching to explore personal geography and mythology. When she was selected to be our Visiting Artist this past Fall 2022, I was thrilled for the opportunity to work alongside her and observe her process. Over the course of her residency, I glimpsed the careful and sensitive way that she builds her ideas. Her imagery is an accumulation of personal experience and interaction with the physical material of the printing matrix; it all gets embedded in the surface of the plate. She is one of the rare artists who are able to use traditional printmaking to deepen her ideas rather than simply reproduce them.
Maria Pina Bentivenga
Luminaria
Mixed media: photopolymer etching, drypoint engraving, and chine colle
20” x 27.5”
2022
Meet the Artists
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Faculty
Originally from Santa Fe, New Mexico, Devin Kovach is an American artist currently living and working in Rome, Italy. He holds an MFA in printmaking from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and a BFA from the University of New Mexico. His artistic practice incorporates elements of printmaking, photography, and installation. He has exhibited his artwork in the US and Europe, and has participated in residency programs at Anderson Ranch, the KALA Art Institute, the Printmaking Center of New Jersey, Stamperia del Notaio, Ramdom’s DeFault17, and RAMO 6.0 with artist Francesco Arena. In the Fall of 2020, with co-editor/author Sarah Linford, Kovach published “Force Fields: Rome & Contemporary Printmaking,” an expansive volume examining new directions in printmaking in the Eternal City.
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Invited Artist
Maria Pina Bentivenga was born in Stigliano in the province of Matera, in 1991. Her prints and artist's books are part of collections including the Albertina in Vienna, the National Institute of Prints and Drawings in Rome, the CGIL art collection in Rome, and la Civica Raccolta Bertarelli di Milano. She is a founding member of the InSigna Atelier in Rome, which focuses on the creation and dissemination of artist books and prints, she is a member of the board of the Associazione Incisori Contemporanei and since 2016 he has been on the board of directors of the Renate Herold Czaschka international foundation for the advancement of Graphic Art. Her artistic career is supported by teaching at the RUFA-Rome University of Fine Arts and the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. She actively exhibits her work in Italy and abroad.