By Brian Brink

“Drawing is not art itself, drawing is simply a tool…” said Mark Franchino when explaining the name of the latest art exhibit at Thiel College.

Franchino’s and his partner’s, Jeremey Boyle, art is usually in the form of sculptures. For this exhibition, entitled Drawing, which opened on Wednesday Sep. 12, the art is made up of graphite on paper and graphite on wood drawings, many of which include electricity.

Franchino went on to say that this exhibition was a good opportunity to show off the drawing work that they do. He also explained that they chose Drawing as the title for this show because the word is both a noun and a verb and, even though, each piece on display is a finished work they are generative of other things. It is meant to be both complete and unfinished at the same time.

“Much of what we make comes from the last thing,” said Franchino about his collaboration with Boyle.

Franchino is an accomplished artist and has been shown in more than 100 group and solo exhibitions nationally and internationally. He is currently a professor of art at Clarion University. His own art style plays with the distinctions between form and function, the object and the image.

Boyle, who is also an accomplished artist with having had exhibitions in major cities across the U.S., is a lecturer and director of fabrication studios at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also a founding and current member of the Chicago based, indie rock band, Joan of Arc.

Franchino and Boyle have been collaborating since 2013 and have put on five major solo-shows together.

“We call them solo-shows even though it’s a two-person exhibition because the work itself is both of our work,” explained Franchino.

Drawing will be on display in the Weyers-Sampson Gallery in the student center of Thiel until Oct. 12 and is open to anyone who wants to see the art.