Paola Angelini: Newborn From Fire and Ashes - Lyles and King

    Italian artist Paola Angelini's paintings light up the atmosphere of the gallery, nestled in bustling Chinatown. At first glance, the saturated colors of Angelini’s palette overwhelm us with information. Her compositions comprise figures that are mostly female, some without clear identity at all, described only as hazy silhouettes with subtle features. The more prominent of Angelini's figures stare out, holding seemingly heroic positions, unlike the vague figures existing in separate, ambiguous dimensions. Angelini incorporates recurring motifs such as rearing horses, carved statues, dancers, and demons inspired by 20th century statuary and The Apocalypse Tapestries (1373-82), whose scenes depicted battles between angels and beasts, destruction and death. Her recent work challenges the context of the medieval tapestries by bringing forth a marriage between evil and beauty, portraying women as symbols for rebirth. 

    Angelini’s process is essential to the works and aids her narrative style. As one moves closer to the surface, through the saturated red and violet hues, rippling creases and cracks can be noticed beneath the painted surface. Angelini uses rabbit glue, plaster, and chalk on linen to thicken her surfaces. After allowing them to dry in the sun, cracks appear naturally once the moisture evaporates. In some cases, such as her work titled, Woman Sundressed, 2022, separate pieces of primed canvas are sewn together, another reference to the tapestries themselves. This skin-like surface not only brings life to her work, but adds an extra dimension to her atmospheric compositions.

     Nearly every square inch of Angelini’s paintings are filled with information. Her use of loud, saturated color and overlapping imagery envelops the viewer, who may argue that her paintings are too busy. Is the sense of narrative clear? Or do the elements of her compositions overstimulate those who are looking?

 

-Moira Kelly (final draft)