Due

28 February - 2 May 2010
 

Collezione Maramotti is pleased to present DUE, an exhibition of new work by Margherita Manzelli. The exhibition includes two paintings of equal size on which the artist worked concurrently and which were created specifically for this project. One of the two paintings is dark, the other light, and they are installed symmetrically in the space in order that the tonal contrast will enhance the relationship between the works.

Margherita Manzelli does not work from life or from photographs; she paints once a specific image has taken shape in her mind, allowing the invisible to become manifest.

The images in her paintings represent archetypal female characters positioned often in strained postures and with the intent of returning the figure to a set of formal pictorial values. The backgrounds of the works are almost plausible “sets” that jostle with the figures. This background space has equal importance for the visual whole and creates a dynamic tension of visual refusal and acceptance between the female character and her surroundings.

Margherita Manzelli’s exhibitions are often accompanied by a performative element. In the past these gestures anchored the artist to the paintings. More recently, the intensity of these “actions” has been absorbed by the act of painting, an organic shift indicating her desire to bring painting back to its pure state.


Press-clipping selection

S. Luppi, La Manzelli si figura l'astrazione, in "il Giornale dell'Arte", n. 297, Apr. 2010

G. Papi, Manzelli, due donne e tre secondi di attenzione, in "Avvenire", 16 Mar. 2010

E. Del Prete, Due lavori di Margherita Manzelli, sintesi del processo catartico della pittura, in "Arte e Critica", n. 62, Mar./May 2010