Angelina Gualdoni
Proposals for Remnants
Kavi Gupta Chicago
835 W. Washington Blvd.
March 27 through May 9
“Proposals for Remnants” is New York-based Angelina Gualdoni's third solo exhibition at Kavi Gupta Gallery. Her ten paintings, all acrylic and oil on unprimed canvas, vary in size between 14”x 16” and 61” x 73”. Gualdoni’s interest in remnants is reflected in the works' imagery but more so in the art making process. Not to label her as a process artist rather that the way in which the paintings were constructed is important in that it helps achieve the feeling of built up remnants.
The canvases are unprimed allowing the paint to be absorbed, similarly to the works of Morris Louis, where the focus is letting the medium do what it wills. This is an intelligent method employed by Gualdoni as it reflects the way in which remnants behave. When something is being destructed the way in which the remnants end up falling and arranging themselves is by chance. Just like destructed remnants build up on each other Gualdoni does the same with the paint in such pieces as “Blush”, the second largest in the exhibition hanging 60” x 48”.
Like the others pieces “Blush” has the medium absorbed in the unprimed canvas upon which more paint is added in varying methods. The diversity of the brushstroke size, direction and color help mimic the many different forms remnants can take. “Blush” also shows Gualdoni’s capacity to be in control of the medium, in the placement and build up of material, as well as her ability to let the paint just be paint and do what it will. Each work of art in the exhibition could be said to have some sort of theme under the umbrella of remnants. Themes of color, as each piece has a dominant color varying in tint and shade with spurts of additional color. Likewise in themes portraying divergent means in which remnants can appear.
“Blush”, which holds a focalized image of contrastive materials being built up in a purple-red theme, stands at one end of the spectrum with “Cosmic” at the other, thus showing how simple and assorted remnants can be. Unlike “Blush”, “Cosmic” holds not a central image; rather it is more abstract and atmospheric, in so far that there is no clear depiction of an image and the artist’s hand is not present. The main color is black however through the absorption of the paint into the canvas along with the manipulation of varying spurts of color the black comes out to be blue-grey. This piece really explores the medium and the way it reacts to different means such as wet on wet technique and the interaction of the acrylic and oil.
If a middle point in the spectrum exists then her piece “Untitled” would hold that position. There is a focalized image and build up of paint just as in “Blush”. However the buildup of material is multiple layers of paint absorption into the canvas like in “Cosmic”, not so much paint right out the tube. Even so Gualdoni’s hand can still be found in this piece, not so much in the Cezanne style of “Blush” but in the choices of placement and overlapping of the colors. While the other two pieces have a dominate color theme so does “Untitled” with blue, furthermore there is a greater integration of different colors in addition to the blue which is not found in the other two pieces.
All ten pieces are displayed in a traditional gallery space around one room of white walls that is well lit. Gualdoni’s exhibition became more captivating the more time one devoted to open oneself up to the piece, by taking notice of the individual parts as well as their relationship in making up the whole. Though no two pieces had the same size canvas each piece portrayed a common theme at the same time addressing difference. Difference in the ways remnants can be experienced but also ways in which each work relates differently to the viewer.
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