meredith cutler :: arts marketing :: artist

Ciao ragazzi! The mercury here in Rome hovers around 40 degrees Centegrade (which is the upper 90's for those of you in the realm of Farenheit). What better excuse then to take refuge in the cool marble halls of an art museum! For my first visit to the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, we were able to catch the 15th Quadriennale d'arte di Roma, which runs through September 14th.

As an outsider to the here and now in contemporary Italian art, this was a good introduction. However, like many survey format shows, which must be a nightmare to curate, I have to admit that it left me feeling a bit lost for vision at the end.

Primarily comprised of emerging and mid-career artists, the show spotlights 99 living artists, with a special (post-mortem) tribute to a 100th, Arte Povera sculptor: Luciano Fabro. During our visit, the museum staff was busy building a large platform for one of his final marble sculptures: "Autunno"; up to this point, not yet shown in public. The casino created by this construction caused an unfortunate interruption of some of the more subtle sound environments and video installations on the 1st floor; for example: Mariateresa Sartori's video installation "Il concerto del mondo". This subtle piece, a video cropped to the mouths of various paired speakers, each vignette in a different language, was accompanied by a soundtrack of music composed to match the rhythm and volume of the subjects as they conducted their conversation. Unfortunately, the excess of ambient noise outside of the viewing room did not serve the interests of this piece.

At a loss to interpret some morbidly lush paintings clustered on the ground level, I found myself drawn to a pair of rather cheeky works in animation shown on the second level of this gorgeous palace. The first, Federico Solmi's "King Kong and the End of the World", was a joyous F.U. to the excesses of American capitalist culture and an energized animation, to boot. Scenes of "the artist as King Kong", sporting a ballooning red erection while smashing the Gagosian Gallery to bits with the edifice of the Guggenheim had me crowing with laughter. I appreciated the way that the museum installed a large selection of original drawings from the animation around the plasma video display. The style, very "schoolkid doodling in the margins of his notebook" was accessible in a way that just barely obfuscated the naughty bits of the subject matter.

"Eine Symphonie Des Greuns", an animated environment by Andrea Mastrovito, featured similarly sketchy drawing style; in this case doubly projected in black and white over a still scene comprised of A4 sheets of paper photocopied and taped simply to the wall. The animation, a dreamlike sequence toying with the self-generated birth and death of a bearded young dude, was surreal in a way that reminded me of Rami Farah's narratives in Julia Meltzer and David Thorne's work shown at the Whitney Biennial.

Incidentally, it was impossible not to notice a heavy influence of British pop-music on this generation of Italian artists, as this piece was accompanied by a looped clip of the intro to Radiohead's "No Surprises" - and the former, by what I sketchily identified as the piano bridge in Eric Clapton's "Layla"...

I admit that I found myself a bit alienated from much of the formal work in the show, and my non-artsy husband, although born and raised in Rome, was no help to me in interpreting the movements behind the evidence. Paintings to my eye were morbidly garish, depicting either grossly overgrown vegetated environments or circus nightmares. Sculpture resonated fairly flat, with the exception of a lovely trio of maps, delicately carved into bars of cream-colored soap by Elissabeta Di Maggio. These pedestalled tesserae depicted, in turn, full aerial street maps of La Città di Messico, Parigi, e Algiers. Each complete map was enclosed in a lovely red linen box display, with the city name penned on an ornamental label.

Leaving the cool marble oasis of the Palazzo, we sported nostri casci and sped away on nostro motorino.

My picks from the RISD Graduate Thesis Exhibition (on view at the Rhode Island Convention Center until June 1st) will be posted over the next several days, due to the fact that the show is enormous and I must return to give proper attention to each department's top talent.

This morning's post is focused on the Textile department's 2008 MFA candidates. Weaver Michael Radyk explores the revelatory and veiling properties of the woven textile form through experimentation with a variety of modern fibers. His large wall hanging, "Swan Point", best exemplifies this direction.

Unlike the flanking pieces, underwhelming efforts with the plastic cord commonly known as "gimp" (ubiquitous to summer camp craft projects), that brought to mind the now widely popular Chilewich placemats, "Swan Point" expertly utilizes materials to express information on several levels, both physically and conceptually. Finely woven from recycled polyester, coat vinyl and nylon, the underlying structure resembles an ancient scroll, coded in modern braille. As if to signify an organic transition from written record to ancient relic, hairy fiber tufts sprout from the grid in a cascading pallete of papyrus neutrals and stony grey.

On the representational and functional side of textiles, Natalie Wright displayed an 8'x11' section of digitally printed wallpaper depicting a complex family portrait originally compiled from 80 individual drawings.

The stylized portraits retain an informal, snapshot quality, while the high-contrast black and white design pushes back at the viewer, negating the staid, environmental comfort of wallpaper. As much as I enjoy this type of work, I wished to see this design realized in different colorways, either more daring or diffuse.

Stay tuned for more mini reviews as I swing through the departmental roster...

Friday sneaks up on you, which is no reason to cover your eyes and shriek. High gas prices have kept me a bit closer to home this week, and in my wanderings I've turned out a few Providence tidbits for your easy consumption.

For those who prefer one-stop shopping, hop on your jalopy and bike on down to Olneyville for a weekend of events at The Steel Yard. As part of their annual fundraiser, a full menu of celebratory events and competitions of kiln and foundry peaks with a "Steel Yard Is Burning" dance party on Saturday night.

DownCity, drop by the Gallery at 17 Peck for their special 3rd Anniversary exhibit and sale, pending their June move to a brand-spanking new location on Federal Hill. Particularly stunning: Malcom Furlow's acidicly edgy Coyote paintings.

Above: Malcolm Furlow: "Coyote In Providence", Acrylic on canvas 30"x36"

Across the "way" at 75 Weybosset, fit yourself with some sexy frames at Providence Optical. Now that you can see clearly, step up the winding staircase to Above Providence Optical Gallery, for a glimpse of "Your Idols", a series of close-cropped portraiture prints by Philipp Rumpf.

Opening tomorrow at Gail Cahalan Gallery, photographer Alexandra Broches' "The Natural World Redefined". Her "design-inspired", black and white prints feature collections of fragile, natural materials such as feathers, bone and eggshells. Broches will give a gallery talk on May 21st, 6:30pm. The show runs through June 7th.

The calendar page has turned, which brings an exciting new crop of gallery shows to focus those springtime wanderings. Time it right and you'll hit an opening reception, all the better to fulfil your early evening aperitif needs!

Make sure to visit 5 Traverse Gallery, where tomorrow evening, Rhode Island artist Allison Paschke will be opening a new exhibition of her mixed-media works in porcelain, cast-resin and layered pigments. Named after imaginary cities described in author Italo Calvino's 1972 novel: "Invisible Cities", Paschke's "Portable Pieces" invite handling and exploration; an adventure required to unlock the magical, invented spaces insinuated within their modest materials.

Above: Allison Paschke's "Despina", (7.25" x 5" x rice paper, varnish and pigment

Visitors to 5 Traverse will have a chance to encounter Paschke's newest work, scaled back into the "second and a half" dimension, which incorporates a bolder tier of the spectrum to invoke the quiet, imaginary perspectives inherent in the neutral pallete of her 3-D work.

Above: Allison Paschke's "Tabriz Study 1", (7" x 7"), resin and pigments on Mylar

Click here to read my full review, available in print in the May/June issue of Artscope Magazine. The exhibition will be on view from May 9th through June 14th.

On view in the Inner Space: Father and son Bill & Ben Shattuck, "2 Generations Aloft"
5 Traverse Gallery: 5 Traverse Street, Providence, RI 02906. 401.278.4968 / info@5traverse.com

Agreed, a light fortnight it has been for posting, patient readers. I've sorely missed these good times as I've been wrangling words for deadlines outside of the cozy blogosphere! Meanwhile, the veil of grey and chill has finally lifted from Providence, leaving behind a shiny blue sky and chorus of twittering birds to punctuate the sneezing of the allergy prone, as Spring swings into full bloom. I couldn't be more thrilled, because I love a good walkabout with gallery stops to fuel the way!

Providence offers its monthly Gallery Night this evening, and I can make a few suggestions, if you are so inclined to join in the fun. All of these shows will be up for some time, so consider it an open invitation to grab some culture!

5 Traverse Gallery presents a dual show, featuring large and small-scale mixed media works by Neil T. Walsh (esteemed Director of AS220) and William Schaff. Don't miss Schaff's "Adrift, The Boat Series" (pictured above) in the glass case by the front window!

Above: "Do Cinderblocks Dream of Being Styrofoam?" by Shirley Tse

Also on the East Side, get a double-whammy at the RISD Museum (free to the public on Gallery Night!) To spark some conversation, they have "Evolution/Revolution", a textiles innovation and fashion show on the upper level, and the concise and environmentally controversial "Styrofoam" show on view in the lower gallery. Take it all in at 224 Benefit Street, Providence.

Recommended Local Dining: Hungry? Grab some killer sushi at Tokyo, where the rice is small but the fish is large (as it should be). Feel free to BYOB though, as they do not offer a bar menu.