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July 27 - August 3,2003 |
Keeping heads in the clouds
Manunza and Lorenzi exemplify printmaking in exhibition
By Jennifer Febbraro
Originally Published: 2003-06-08
A decade ago, critics were debating whether or not painting was dead; since then the same question has moved onto writing, and has circumvented the world of printmaking. I guess the assumption was that it had already quietly retired in Europe. But Mascia Manunza and Daniela Lorenzi have dedicated themselves to ensuring that printmaking remain alive and vibrant.
This summer, at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura, both these artists will be featured in a show titled Between Clouds, I. Manunza's work explores the mystical world of clouds as they are printed on large accordian-styled strips; however, she has also made a video to accompany this work. The difference in the viewer's role manifests itself before her work - as in the video the viewer must remain still and watch the movement on the screen, whereas in the prints constitute books whose pages the viewer must turn to elicit their story.
Lorenzi's work, on the other hand, features a less abstract concept and works with the origins of portraits. Beginning with a Polaroid camera, she takes pictures of people that she knows well, and then works with this Polaroid to create a large-scale print of the person's face.
But despite the differences in these artists, both of them are concerned with the intimacy that comes in recognition of the present moment.
One of Manunza's pieces is a typical-looking shopping bag; however, on the inside of the bag, the image of clouds is printed. She says that this universally recognizable exterior allows for people to make a judgement, yet "only you know what is inside" and that is the mystery of it. "You can carry your dreams with you, or something like that", she explains. For Manunza, the moment is a sacred recognition of time fleeting, and the impetus to carpe dium. For Lorenzi, the urgency comes in trying to reconcile the macro dimensionality of the faces of loved ones, what can the photograph capture but the moment stilled, the transitory stopped?
The exhibition Between Clouds, I began as a collaboration between the two artists who knew each other in Milan, Italy and co-founded Atelier Quattordici. Atelier focussed on the research of etching techniques and functioned as a studio that serves as a meeting place for young artists from all over the world to come and exchange ideas. This is their first joint effort in seven years, since Manunza moved to Canada and left their original studio.
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