Vico on the left wall, Swipe on the right. Both are oil stick and oil pastel on prepared paper. The grid of Vicos consists of paintings each 12 x 9.5 inches; to the left of the grid are two Vicos, 18 x 12 inches (the wide angle changes the proportions). Swipe, same medium on 30 x 22 inch Fabriano or Arches, are from 2020
I spent most of 2023 working on Italianità, my book, with little time in the studio to make art. But in fits and starts I returned to Vico, the series I started during the pandemic. Small and intense in color, they absorbed me fully in the brief periods I had in the studio. By early December, with the book at the printer, I worked intently, adding to what I had started and producing a total of 22 new paintings on paper in two months. I put them on the wall with some of the earlier ones to view as a group. Swipe, which was on another wall for inspiration, asked to accompany the smaller works to the exhibition. Of course I said yes, as did Zola Solamente, Arden's owner/director, who curated the show.
The grid wall, with a few individual works below
Vico 31
2024, oil stick and oil pastel on handmade paper, 12 x 9,5 inches
Vico 33
2024, oil stick and oil pastel on handmade paper, 12 x 9.5 inches
Vico 35
2024, oil stick and oil pastel on handmade paper, 12 x 9.5 inches
Vico 10, 2021, oil stick and oil pastel on handmade paper, 18 x 12 inches
