One of the most distinguished curators in the United States,
Lorella Paleni, has many publications and awards to her credit. A former curator of the National Museum of Modern Art, her works have been displayed at the New York Times, The Saachi International, Harvard and many other places. Her travels include visits to Washington, D.C., Rome, London, Paris, Toronto, Mexico City, and Florence. In Rome, she was honored with the premiership, and received the Order of the Legion d'Honneur from Pope John Paul II. Presented by The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University, in cooperation with The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery.
Among her major works are “The Heavens Weep,” which was previously exhibited in the Saachi International; “Wake Up to the Moon,” a solo exhibition organized by the Saachi Institute of Art; “Behold the Man in the Boat,” a series of paintings for the Water Window on Wall Street in New York City; and ” Horizon,” a solo oil painting. Among her group exhibitions are “The Reflection Process” with Peter Young, “The Encounter between Doubt and Hope,” a painting of a broken watch between two friends in Bergen, NJ; “The Missing Link,” a fantastic group-portrait painted for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of Natural History, New York; “Bridget, November,” an oil painting of a young girl sitting on a beach; and “The Dance,” an abstract work. Other important group exhibitions held by Lorella Paleni include “The Cave of Wonders,” a series of five paintings from the mid nineteen hundreds in New York; ” Seasons of Life and Light,” a sixteen-week program fromessions, during which she explored the natural cycles between summer and winter; “Necesis: A Secular Pilgrimage,” a group portrait from the nineteen seventies; “The Call to Conscience,” an intense, private and introspective series from which she analyzed the meaning of dreams; and “Reflections,” a solo exhibition in progress at the Saachi Institute.
In these and other group works, paleni applies various art movements to a large variety of subjects. As she has said, in most cases, what one sees is not what one gets: her paintings often seem to jump out of the viewer's sight, taking them by surprise. In these group works she often uses the double image technique, as here in the case of the water lilies in her “Behold the Man in the Boat.” The repetition of the image of a flower, interspersed with the image of a man swinging on a rope, often gives the viewer a sense that the water lily is actually a man.
The use of repetition is common in the artistic process of Lorella Paleni. In her painting, entitled, “The Cliffs of Dover,” the artist reverses the usual subject-appear-animate practice, replacing the male subject with an animal, and making the painting seem almost a biography of its subject, an attempt to understand what motivated him to paint this particular subject and how he coped with his emotions. In this painting, the title refers not only to a famous work by Dover, but also to a way by which Paleni copes with pain. She repeatedly emphasizes the sense of pain within the sea captain's character.
There is a similar theme in the work of Lorella Paleni. Here, too, there is the suggestion of a biography. This time, however, the sea captain is not a human being but an inhuman monster, and the painting includes a close-up of one of the monsters teeth. The repetition here serves to underline both the aesthetic quality of the work as well as its subject matter. It is in these works that the multiple elements of Paleni's art combine into a single expression of her central motifs and her personal preoccupations.
Another great example of Paleni's usage of repetition in her painting is her painting of the staircase leading up to the catacombs of Jerusalem in her new york studio. Here, the staircase is painted a rich red ochre, evoking the rich architecture of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. But Paleni's decision to use such a heavy color requires her to also use a thick brush, in order to achieve the intensity she wants her painting to have. This is also a great example of how a skilled artist uses repetitive strokes in her art. This intensity is what makes the painting so memorable.
In many of her new works, the close-up of the brush, together with the multiple brushstrokes of the painting all contribute to the emotion of the piece. This is not always the case with other works by other artists; but when a work of art is created by a master artist, it leaves the audience with a lasting impression. When a painting by a new and emerging artist like lorella paleni, emerges from a small studio located in a squalid part of the slums of Rome, one can only imagine the power this painting will have not just for the artist, but for the people who will see it.
In this beautiful painting, Paleni combines rich reds, yellows, and blacks to create a warm and inviting atmosphere. The colors are rich and inviting, allowing the viewer to move easily through the painting while at the same time, connecting the different periods in time that the painting represents. As the famous painter Mark Langan once wrote: “In the long run, the best artists copy others; they simply take their ideas and run with it.” Such is the case with Lorella Paleni's work – she takes other people's ideas and executes them to the fullest, leaving her audience with nothing but wonderful works of art.
|
LORELLA PALENI: Brujas Coeur & Art – Lorella Paleni | Lorella Paleni |
|
Ausstellung Lorella Paleni – Otherwise – Magic Beans Gallery – Lorella Paleni | Lorella Paleni |
|
Lorella Paleni the contemporary Italian artist – Lorella Paleni | Lorella Paleni |
|
LORELLA PALENI: Brujas Coeur & Art – Lorella Paleni | Lorella Paleni |
|
Discovery: Lorella Paleni – Interview Magazine – Lorella Paleni | Lorella Paleni |