Preview: Marco Mazzoni “Immune” @ Thinkspace Gallery [Culver City, CA]

It’s been a few years now since we initially became aware of Italy‘s Marco Mazzoni.  I don’t remember the exact moment that I first saw one of his pieces — I believe that it was probably just prior to the artist being featured on the cover of issue #20 of Hi Fructose magazine (July 2011) — but I do know that his highly recognizable aesthetic has stayed with me ever since and that every time I have come across anything of his since, I immediately knew exactly whose work I was looking at.  The women that reoccur in his work generally do so without eyes, whether they are simply blocked out and shadowed, or absent altogether.  Primarily just featuring their heads with the occasional incorporation of hands or a more inclusive bust, the faces of the subjects are typically shrouded in plantlife, such as orchids and  lilies, and/or enveloped by birds or butterflies.  There’s something compelling about gazing directly at any entity that doesn’t appear to have the ability to look back at you, as well as a disconcerting feeling as if they know that you’re observing them and are suspicious of your presence and intentions.Piercing through a nondescript void, the figures deliver a strong balance between mortal life and death, the physical and the intangible.  Whether these natural elements of plant and animal grow from within these subjects, commandeering the vessels like an oak breaking through concrete, or are instinctually drawn to them like cascading vines on abandoned brick and mortar, these organic components genuinely seem to empower their hosts, whether they do so by default or otherwise.  As much as they may appear to obstruct the physical senses of these women, on one hand, it feels as if they bring new, perhaps even “purer,” life to these dead-eyed specimens, a life that draws from the less tangible senses and exists outside of a strictly physical plane.  It’s as if the subjects are presented in frozen states wherein the realization of existence is both instant and absolute.  And depending on the particular subject featured in each particular piece, the way that they react to this highly sensual, holistic experience and realization of instantaneity and being is captured and distilled into moments that reflect a range of emotions that encompass anything from apprehension, terror, and confusion to uninhibited wonder, assured confidence, analytical contemplation, or even zen-like understanding.  One of the craziest aspects in these works for me, personally, is that some of these women occasionally look dead-on like my own mother.  But, perhaps even crazier than that is the reality that Mazzoni creates these works, and the respective effects that they generate, by working in the incredibly surprising and generally under-appreciated medium of color pencils.

Of course, all of this worthless jibber-jabber is really just nothing more than a explanation for what I personally feel when I look at the art.  The way that Marco implies weight and texture in his pieces, how feathers, wings or petals can seem so heavy, yet uplifting, feeling simultaneously like a burden and a release, oppressive yet elevating, feeds into the tension and duality of the work.  But, all of that is still over-analysis being employed for no other reason than to say that I’m honestly not sure exactly what this artist wants to present, or even what I have to offer to the conversation other than that I feel something within them when I see these pieces.  Certain bloated and potentially concrete elements feel as if they are being smothered out, simply so that the spirit can be released and that essence can be inhaled by the observer.  And for those that are into observing the artist’s work first hand and are, or will be, in the Culver City/Los Angeles area this month, the Thinkspace Gallery is hosting a solo exhibit for Marco Mazzoni titled Immune which opens tomorrow (November 8, 2014).

We have preview images for the entire exhibit below, but first, here is some more detailed art-related jive-talk directly from the press release — I’m sure that it probably breaks things down as far as process and intention in a manner that’s a little more thorough than that I’m either able or willing to provide.

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