Tag: italian

Bea Scaccia at JDJ Gallery

Hair, clothing and jewelry were of utmost importance in the small town where Italian artist Bea Scaccia grew up.  Now a New Yorker and long-since escaped from the cultural norms of her youth, the artist is showing painted assemblages at Tribeca’s JDJ Gallery of items – wigs, gloves and ornaments – that allow individuals to role-play through dress.  Titled, ‘A belief in physio-gnomic principles,’ this grouping of ringlets and puffs of fur hints at a figure without revealing one, mock-suggesting that accoutrements make the person. (On view through May 27th).

Bea Scaccia, A belief in physio-gnomic principles, acrylic on canvas, 42 x 42 inches, 2022.

Ugo Mulas at Matthew Marks Gallery

Late Italian photographer Ugo Mulas made his name documenting the Venice Biennials from 1954 – 1972 and establishing relationships with Italy’s major post-war artists.  In the ‘60s, his purview expanded to New York where he met and photographed now iconic avant-garde artists from Barnett Newman to Marcel Duchamp.  These photos and more at Matthew Marks Gallery in Chelsea offer a peek at yesteryear’s art scene, from the police closing a Warhol loft party to intimate shots of Jasper Johns at work.  Here, Roy Lichtenstein inhabits one of his cartoon scenarios with good humor.  (On view through August 16th).

Ugo Mulas, Roy Lichtenstein, vintage gelatin silver print, 10 ½ x 17 7/8 inches, 1964.

Mario Merz at Sperone Westwater Gallery

Iconic Italian Arte Povera artist Mario Merz demonstrated his ongoing interest in the Fibonacci sequence this spiral table from 1982, now on view at Sperone Westwater Gallery. Merz translates the Fibonacci numbers – in which each number is the sum of the previous two – into a symbolic display of nature’s beautiful bounty. (On the Lower East Side through June 25th).

Mario Merz, Tavola a spirale (Spiral Table), aluminum, glass, fruit, vegetables, laurel branches, tar paper and beeswax, 216 inches diameter, 1982.
Mario Merz, Tavola a spirale (Spiral Table), aluminum, glass, fruit, vegetables, laurel branches, tar paper and beeswax, 216 inches diameter, 1982.

Luigi Ghirri at Matthew Marks Gallery

A series of charming vintage color photos from the 70s and 80s by the late Italian photographer Luigi Ghirri, currently on view in Chelsea at Matthew Marks Gallery, use framing and balance to tell stories. This photo – cropped or layered to hide how a fancifully colored turquoise grate came to stand between us and a huge factory floor – both keeps us out and the workers in. (Through April 30th).

Luigi Ghirri, Roma, from the series Kodachrome, vintage cibachrome, 6 x 9 1/8 inches, 1978.
Luigi Ghirri, Roma, from the series Kodachrome, vintage cibachrome, 6 x 9 1/8 inches, 1978.

Tatiana Trouve at the SE corner of Central Park

Before she even set foot in Central Park to create a site-specific artwork commissioned by the Public Art Fund, Paris-based artist Tatiana Trouve poured over maps of the park’s utilities. Inspired by the many unseen arteries connecting the park’s lights, water supply and more, she measured all 212 pathways in the park, designating each with a separate spool on towering racks. (Through Aug 30th).

Tatiana Trouve, installation view of ‘Desire Lines,’ at Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Central Park, 60th Street and 5th Ave, through Aug 30th.