This is the second of three Workspace 2014 exhibitions, featuring the work of LES Studio Program artists-in-residence.
Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space is thrilled to present Little Gloating Eve, a solo exhibition of recent work by Beatrice Scaccia. The evolution of an ongoing body of work, this installation acts as an immersion into the human condition, inviting us into the life of Scaccia’s central character, Eve. Rendering movements ranging from banal to absurd (cooking, dancing, listening to music, eating flowers), Scaccia uses the faceless Eve concealed in layers of grey clothing and padding, to construct a narrative of fragments and repetition in dilated time. A close emulation of dozens of simple, borrowed actions, Scaccia deconstructs these familiar gestures to build her own fiction — fixed in the pattern of a wallpaper, the loop of an animated gif, or the edges of a panel — revealing both the foolishness and wonder of our routines.
First appearing in 2010, Eve’s world has evolved from two-dimensional planes into an immersive installation of wallpaper, drawings, works on panel, animations, a garden of ceramic flowers created by Japanese artist Toshiaki Noda, as well as a soundtrack made by the French musician Lionel Laquerriere. Once trapped in a cell-like room with only a single small window to reflect the world beyond her rigid confines, Little Gloating Eve offers us the first opportunity to enter Eve’s universe. As a protagonist, Eve is both sinister and playful, suspended between being a child and a play toy; an attempt to return to the lightness and magic of childhood that has since been lost to time. With a story told through syncopated moments, Scaccia creates a sense of freedom, one that is relieved of both reason and judgement.
For this incarnation of the project, Scaccia invited dozens of Italian elementary school students to draw Eve doing one thing, based on a written description of the character. This resulted in a remarkable collection of drawings, which will be on view in the gallery, that have in turn influenced many of Scaccia’s own representations of Eve. As Scaccia explains, “Isolation is the worst risk an artist can experience. My very first idea was completely different. Throughout dialogues and discussions, I understood that my needs were elsewhere. I became too attached to some executive manners, losing the urgencies.”
RECENT PRESS
Dars Magazine, “Beatrice Scaccia: Little Gloating Eve” Valentina Tovaglia
La Voce di New York, “Beatrice Scaccia e la sua arte, da Veroli a New York” Liliana Rosano
Artribune, “La coda di Eve. Beatrice Scaccia a Milano” Ginevra Bria
Beatrice Scaccia works on duration, that is that dilatation of time composed of rhythmic scansions, waits and restarts. Her narrative urge and her need to express herself with figurative painting both originate from a strong communicative instinct that translates into drawings and animation, reminiscent of a certain Renaissance tradition that focuses its artistic study on drawing and the human figure. Indeed key aspects of her works are repetition, interrupted narration and main characters. We could consider her characters kind of drawn performers. Beatrice’s work has been featured in Europe and USA. Most recent exhibitions include: “DiviNA Commedia”, Museum Arcos, Benevento; “Fino alla fine del mondo” , 41artecontemporanea, Turin; “Les Intermittences du couer”, Ex Elettrofonica. Rome; “Patria Interiore/Inner Homeland”, Golden Thread. Belfast; “QuadratoNomade”, Palace Expo. Rome. Her work is in the collections of The National Cultural Institute of Oslo and of Seul, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome and Museum of Contemporary Art of Viareggio (Italy).
Toshiaki Noda has been primarily working on ceramic art over the last five years since he realized the potential of the medium. He has been fascinated with the characteristics of ceramics such as the plasticity of clay that gives him many options and a spontaneous approach in building form. The textures and colors he can get only from the alchemy of glazes that he can not have full control over, attracts him. Noda invariably gets his inspiration from the passage of time and visual changes of things caused by both natural and unnatural events over time. Textures, cracks, tears, drips, fades, grooves, organic curves, layers, and built-ups of his works create a feeling of passage of time things have experienced.
The LES Studio Program is a three and six month residency program, run by Artists Alliance Inc, open to under-represented, emerging and mid-career professional working artists. Founded in 2003, the LES Studio Program underscores AAI’s belief that the arts and individual artists are essential elements of the culture, history and future of the Lower East Side community. Artists of all disciplines–painting, photography, sculpture, video, installation, new media–are considered for fully-funded studio space to produce new work and make use of resources needed to support their creative practice. The residency offers 24-hour studio access, the opportunity to present work to curators and critics through AAI-organized studio visits, and a curated exhibition at Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space.
Cuchifritos is FREE to the public and handicap accessible. Located inside Essex Street Market at the south end nearest Delancey.
Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space is a program of Artists Alliance Inc., a 501c3 not for profit organization located on the Lower East Side of New York City within the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center. Cuchifritos is supported in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. This program is made possible by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. We thank the following for their generous support: Foundation for Contemporary Arts, New York City Economic Development Corporation and individual supporters of Artists Alliance Inc. Special thanks go to our team of dedicated volunteers, without whom this program would not be possible.