UNTITLED DETAILS
New paintings and installation by ALESSANDRA ROSSI
6th - 29th February, 2004  @  GALLOWS GALLERY
Reviewed by Judith McGrath

Each one of these richly coloured works will cause you to stop, look and listen to your own mind before moving on to the next exhibit, to start the process all over again. Rossi's work is for those who are not afraid to engage with art, the viewer who prefers a variety of personal interpretations of an image to the one imposed narrative.

Red seems to be Rossi's vehicle of expression, especially in the larger works where she uses it well, in both warm and cool variants. I do appreciate Untitled where disembodied hands and an upper torso float on the red painted surface while line drawings of a ghostly figure and other 'stuff' seem suspended beneath. It is an enigmatic composition that has us wondering if all is well or are we being warned of something, and if so, what? Different questions arise from The Gossip where a nude figure stands flush along the right side of the red painted canvas watching another dive off a centrally located column. Why, and into what, is he diving? There are white featureless heads within a frame behind our standing figure. Are they locked in closed minds, situated in a private place inaccessible to our bystander? These are just my questions but yours may be different, as will be your answers.

Identity is more straightforward. Here two children stand amid a chain of cut out paper dolls. One figure is only suggested, perhaps trying to find his own sense of self, where he fits in the crowd. The other figure is more defined, as if he has an understanding of his own personality. This is a fine painting that echoes the artist's concern about how globalization is eroding cultural identity, homogenizing humanity to the point of the loss of individualism.

This eroding of individuality is again touched on with the intriguing installation Wind where a collection of aged limestone blocks each supporting the profile of a sleeping face carved in plaster. The ghostly face emerges from smooth white sand that may be pushed about to cover or reveal more of the effigy's identity. An evocative presentation that extends beyond the gallery into the courtyard.

Rossi's mono prints are a delight. In this smaller format she is able to offer figures pared back to the essence of form so as to touch on those aspects of humanity that all cultures celebrate, albeit in their own special vernacular. These figures suggest strength of character, perhaps because they are boldly drawn and offered without excuses.

This is an excellent collection of contemplative images that satisfy the aesthetic on a variety of levels.

 Read Another          Art Seen Home