Lacking Contradictions...Enrico Castellani: Interior Space April 7 – May 21
Opening today, Dominique Lévy is presenting its first New York solo exhibition by celebrated Italian artist Enrico Castellani (b. 1930, Castelmassa), with whom the gallery has worked since its inception in 2012. Enrico Castellani: Interior Space brings together recent as well as historical works by the artist, many of which are presented in New York for the first time. Exploring the ways in which painting can occupy three-dimensional space, Castellani’s art presents a complete amalgamation of form and concept: in the artist’s words, a “total interior space, lacking contradictions.”
A selection of the artist's large-scale shaped relief canvases, Superfici bianchi (White Surfaces), are presented here in juxtaposition with recent angular metallic paintings titled Biangolare cromato (Bi-angular Chrome) and Angolare cromato (Angular Chrome), the latter of which are installed by the artist in corners. These white and metallic works are placed in dialogue with one another, highlighting the ambient light and shadow effects that occur as Castellani's paintings activate the architectural spaces in which they are situated. Three-dimensional paintings are complemented by the recent sculpture Spartito, in which Castellani references a seminal work made in 1969 by bolting hundreds of sheets of paper together in a biomorphic minimalist form.
Punctuating the monochromatic white and silver artworks on view are two early red shaped canvases: Superficie rossa n. 8 (1966) and Superficie angolare rossa (1961), pivotal efforts that decidedly announced Castellani’s bold break with the trajectory of painting by rupturing the conventional rectangular or square format.
Enrico Castellani: Interior Space, which was previously on view at the gallery's London location, will be on view in New York through May 21st. The exhibition is accompanied by a comprehensive book featuring a newly commissioned essay by Angela Vettese, former President of the International Jury of the Venice Biennale and director of the graduate program at the Università Iuav di Venezia. This publication also includes a newly revised translation of a rare interview between Castellani and Hans Ulrich Obrist from 2009.
Enrico Castellani: Interior Space
April 7 – May 21, 2016
909 Madison Avenue
Entrance on 73rd Street
New York, NY 10021
T: +1 212 772 2004
