Post by lastritesgallery on Apr 2, 2015 13:14:43 GMT -8
Leslie Ditto "Enduring" & William Basso "Mise-en-scène"
April 11th – May 16th, 2016
***Opening Reception Saturday, April 11th, 7 - 11pm***
April 11th – May 16th, 2016
***Opening Reception Saturday, April 11th, 7 - 11pm***
Leslie Ditto
"Enduring"
April 11th – May 16th, 2016
***Opening Reception Saturday, April 11th, 7 - 11pm***
New York, NY (April 11th, 2015) – Last Rites Gallery is pleased to present “Enduring”, new work by Leslie Ditto, in what will be her first solo show at the gallery. The definition of “Enduring” describes something as long lasting or the experience of patiently suffering. In this new body of work, Ditto has created 13 paintings and drawings that represent manifestations of this arduous emotion in modern day society. Through the use of her quintessential heroines, Ditto calls out the stress and emotional strain that falls on the individual in an age where information is abundant and corruption dominates the social, political, economic and environmental world at large.
Ditto employs techniques inspired by Old Masters such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Peter Paul Rubens, Raphael and Rembrandt van Rijn and contemporizes them with her own personal style. She is also heavily inspired by fantasy art and the depiction of strong and seductive female vixens she saw growing up in the likes of work by Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo. She balances realism with dreamy portrayals of women who may also serve as a personification of Mother Nature herself as she falls victim to the destructive imprint of man. Many of her frames are hand embellished to further echo the encapsulating effects of technology.
The gears of industry and destruction of our natural environment are addressed in Ditto’s alluring portraits. Information technology and its widespread nature bombard us unremittingly. The profusion of this information and its effect on the human psyche is tremendous. Ditto explains:
With the gift of information and communication available at the touch of a keypad, information regarding global and local issues of social, political, economic and environmental is overwhelming on a personal level. The stresses of feeling helpless & despair soon have a pulling and suffocating effect. Many times with these issues they seem to lead back to a to the injustice of the mass power of the Corporations and politicians, going hand and hand. Corporate destruction, repression and exploitation bring to mind gears in a huge industrial machine, each one in relation to another on so many levels.
Her female champions hold themselves together as they endure the troubles of modern day times. Nature and industry suffocate, drown and pull at them, yet a spark of confidence and hope remain in their knowing expressions. Her paintings use color, symbols, mood and imagery to convey the ferocity of world tribulations and the strength and confidence we must exhibit to continue to persevere.
---
William Basso
Mise-en-scène
April 11th – May 16th, 2015
***Opening Reception Saturday, April 11th, 7 - 11pm***
The artist will be present
New York, NY (April 11th, 2015) – Last Rites Gallery is pleased to present “Mise-en-scène”, new work by William Basso, in what will be his first solo show at the gallery. “Mise-en-scène” will include 14 mixed media assemblages that display a mysterious theatricality while correlating to the transience of existence itself. “Mise-en-scène” will also feature a selection of Basso’s “raw materials”, such as his sculptured objects that provide key insight into the artist’s multistep methodology. The process in developing each work is unique to the artist and requires many stages including but not limited to sketches, sculpture, photography, digital rendering, printing, collaging and hand embellishing.
Mise-en-scène is a French word that translates to “placing on stage” and incorporates all the framing elements (i.e.: actors, lighting, décor, props, costume) in a film or theatrical production. Basso’s vocational background is in the visual effects industry where he produced commercial sculpture work and special effects makeup for a number of notable films. This profession allowed him to embrace the concept of creating an illusion as he transformed an actor into a supernatural being. Basso’s mixed media constructions incorporate his professional experience while blending it with his love of Halloween, bygone eras and his own brand of alchemy.
Demon-human hybrids and doll like women dominate the foreground of Basso’s work often times sharing the stage with props, costumes and curtains. Macabre objects and representations of the transience of time such as skulls and broken clocks play a large role in conveying themes of memento mori and the inevitable metamorphosis of life. A sense of childhood innocence masks fears of obsolescence and mortality present in most of our minds. One cannot hide from the natural course of life just as summer cannot disguise the coming of autumn.
Basso’s work is a representation not just of our own ephemerality, but also of the transience of technology and the marks we leave on the world around us. His assemblages heed the past with their use of sepia tones, gears, ropes and wooden planks, all serving to evoke an arcane sideshow of the imagination. These antediluvian technologies are the antithesis of the masked and oftentimes completely concealed elements of production in today’s entertainment industry. Basso describes the origin of his characters and their world:
The characters in my work exist in a distant, half-remembered, autumnal place where even Halloween can last forever. Images emerge through a cross-referencing of many artistic influences, memories and ideas. Ancient and flickering, monochrome films of the fantastic and macabre play continuously, running through rusted projectors. Long, silent corridors are hung with varnished, cracked paintings and brittle prints from another age, while rows of tall, wooden cabinets display bones and other arcane specimens behind panes of misted glass. In a lonely field of dry grasses under an overcast sky, sits an abandoned theater where puppets, props and painted backdrops are quietly waiting with peeling paint and thick dust. Up in a darkened attic, an antique trunk contains time worn books and comics, richly illustrated. It is here in this world of my subconscious that a childlike sense of fantasy and imagination can mingle with adult anxieties or dreams.
Basso’s mixed media assemblages stir up a sense of imagination and nostalgia as they evoke a childlike innocence, yet beneath their sentimental surface, layers of thanatophobia and anachronism thrive, reminding one of the evanescent nature of all things.
ABOUT WILLIAM BASSO
Growing up in a household where both parents were artists exposed William Basso to all types of art from a very young age. Combining equal amounts of horror movie magazines and comic books with Renaissance or Eastern European art, for example, helped to shape William's artistic sensibilities.
After graduating from the Parsons School of Design in New York where he received a BFA in illustration, William became interested in special effects for the film industry and eventually relocated from New Jersey to Glendale, California. He has contributed his artistry to many well known films. Edward Scissorhands, Terminator 2, Batman Returns, Jurassic Park and Interview with the Vampire among them.
For the past several years, William has been focused on developing his personal artistic vision, creating mixed media works as well as taking on freelance projects. His award winning work has been exhibited in a number of galleries as well as being featured in SPECTRUM and The Society of Illustrators art annuals.
PROCESS
I would classify my work as a form of mixed-media. I typically begin a piece by drawing and working out ideas on paper. This is followed by sculpting and constructing a series of miniature, doll-like characters or maquettes, as well as a variety of intricate handmade objects that are then photographed. These objects and figures are made from all kinds of things like clay, cardboard, string, paper, wire, tape, wood, hair and odd bits of cloth. The photographs are processed in the computer. The basic image is made up of a number of different photos as well as scanned drawings...different objects and parts, all composed and manipulated using Adobe Photoshop. Once I have the basic composition created, I print out portions of the image in sections or pieces and, using collage techniques, build the final assemblage on a surface of canvas, panel or paper. Pieces are cut, torn and altered. They are also worked into with paint, pencil and other mixed-media, which adds a layered patina of color and texture. Aesthetic discoveries are made as subtle passages, rhythms and shapes reveal themselves within the layers of the work.
My process always begins in the same way, but occasionally a piece is completely finished using Adobe Photoshop, resulting in a limited edition print. Most of my pieces, however, are unique, or one of a kind mixed-media constructions. Using this painstaking battery of mixed-media techniques enables me to create handcrafted images and tactile artifacts that allow the viewer access into a dreamlike, theatrical world.
The utilization of handmade objects and environments done in miniature is partially an offshoot of my experiences creating special effect characters for the film industry, where completely artificial worlds and illusions are used to tell a story. In my case, I’m creating a frozen moment and that aspect of it relates more to painting and the types of photography that I’m interested in, particularly the early photographers of the pictorialist movement. As I'm working, it can feel as though I'm staging a tiny theater piece or perhaps curating a mysterious museum exhibit combined with a long ago forgotten sideshow of curiosities.