Iconographer Returns To The Scene Of The Sign

Alison Cofrancesco brought iconic New Haven storefronts — including mobile ones — to canvas, then reconnected with the humans behind them in real life.

That reconnection occurred during a tour the other day showcasing her one-of-a-kind paintings to the New Haven business owners whose iconic storefronts are depicted in her work.

Having recently completed an art fellowship at Trinity College, the 24-year-old New Haven native has been registering iconic images and storefronts that symbolize the city’s heritage through digital and painted artwork. Classic New Haven imagery like Carter Mario’s face spread across a city bus and the omnipresent Irv Pinsky box truck have all been catalogued in her signature style incorporating bold shapes and friendly colors to immortalize our city’s landscapes.

When attorney Pinsky heard last week that his truck was featured in one of Cofrancesco’s works, he jumped into his eponymous truck and headed to Gather East on State Street, where Cofrancesco’s work was on sale, to pick up a print. 

“One of my friends called me and said ​‘Irv, you got to see this painting of your van,’” said Pinsky. ​“So I drove down and bought a print.” 

On Sunday, Cofrancesco and Pinsky met for a photo op in front of his truck. The two stood in traffic on Sherman Avenue to get the same angle of the Pinsky truck depicted in Cofrancesco’s painting. 

After snapping several photos, Pinsky gifted her a framed advertisement for Pinsky Law, a bumper sticker that read ​“warrant required”, and a bag of Bruegger’s bagels with a container of jalapeno cream cheese. 

“I see the Pinsky truck all the time,” said Cofrancesco, ​“and think he’s got a lot of character and when you see the city start to change you want to capture these things that make it what it is to you in case it changes.”

After Pinsky’s visit, Cofrancesco was off to Kebabian’s Rugs, where she was greeted by John Kebabian and his son, Josh.

She presented John with an original print of his storefront, a gesture that triggered a lengthy conversation about New Haven’s history. John recalled the ​’70s and ​’80s, the demolished New Haven Coliseum, and Kebabian’s heritage. 

“This painting is so meaningful to us,” he said, ​“It’s a really unique style, and it represents our store, our family, our history being Turkish immigrants coming to New Haven to access Yale’s education and staying here since.” 

John and his staff loved the print so much, he gifted Cofrancesco a medium-sized Turkish rug.

Dave Virdee, owner of Tandoor Indian Buffett, was also a big fan of Cofrancesco’s work, but had one qualm concerning her portrayal of Tandoor’s storefront.

“Our buffet was never $10.95!” he said, referring to the sign portrayed in artwork that read $10.95.

Laughing about the mistake, the two stood for a picture on the corner of Chapel and Howe.

Cofrancesco hails from an artistic family. Her father is a sculptor and her mother a photographer.

Growing up watching her parents engage in the arts served as a foundation for her artistic journey. 

“I was really little, my dad did sculpture for a long time. He used to teach me and my cousins to draw when I was little when they’d come over. It was my initial introduction and interest into art,” Cofrancesco said. 

As she got older, she explored her interests in art but never identified with being an artist herself. It wasn’t until she spent a semester in Italy studying art history that she wondered whether she could be an artist.

“I was young, trying to figure out what I’m good at, what I like. A bigger part was having taken the art history classes, you see the process and how people make things and I thought to myself, ​‘I don’t know why I couldn’t do that,’” Cofrancesco said.

“Everyone’s creative, we have a myth that we need inherent talent. I don’t believe in that.”

Cofrancesco majored in art at Trinity College and then went on to complete an art fellowship. There she was trained in oil painting and worked as a gallery assistant.

When Covid-19 hit and businesses and events were halted, Cofrancesco would go for long walks around town to absorb the city landscapes. These long walks influenced new project ideas, including her unofficial series on canvassing New Haven imagery.

“Because I was here for a summer during Covid, you could just go for walks and look at things. I had been at college. I was walking around town and started noticing things. These little businesses lent themselves well to digital art. I love corner stores. I think liquor stores often are really good to draw because they have so many signs and branding and colors interacting. I was just looking at them a lot. Then I started moving more into local businesses that had some level of significance to me,” Cofrancesco said.

“There’s so many moments of history in the city specifically, but in general in Connecticut. It’s been really interesting to me to understand what the state is and what towns are and how I relate to them.”

Cofrancesco’s work extracts pieces of our surroundings that hide in plain sight but are immediately recognizable when exposed.

Many of us fail to ​“stop and smell the roses” because our modern world has become inundated with advertisements, signage, and rampant stimulation. 

“A lot of what I’m interested in and think about is just how much stuff there is in our modern world, how much signage there is,” Cofrancesco said. ​“In New Haven, you walk outside, and you see all the stuff and history piled on top of each other that happens in a city. So much of it has so much meaning but were also surrounded by thrown-away things too. I like using text a lot because we’re always being advertised to. There’s a lot of noise going on too, all the manmade things in the city. I try to push towards detail, louder things when it’s simpler, louder colors, more manmade things, bright things.”

Cofrancesco creates her art with oil paint, watercolor and digital art platforms. All of her work can be found on her Instagram account, alico7187.

She currently has some prints on display at Gather East, or interested buyers are encouraged to direct message her on Instagram.