Viviana Riccelli. Chaos by Galleria Duemila Art

Viviana Riccelli 2 March–13 April 2024

Cover Image Rising from the Gourge Inside Cover Image Look Inside

Viviana Riccelli. Chaos 2 March–13 April 2024

Art Director Silvana Ancellotti-Diaz Gallery Manager Álvaro Talavera Exhibition Team Thess Ponce Roy Abrenica Mariela Araza Edgar Bautista Gabriel Abalos Jose Joeffrey Baba Graphic Designer Kyle Azarcon Exhibition Notes Sandra Palomar

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COP - 20225 The Doubt acrylic on canvas 138.00 x 122.00 cm / 54.37 x 48.07 in. 2024

Artist Statement

My paintings are inspired by everyday life, encounters and memories, nature, but never overlooking the real world, people’s struggle and the tragedies that encircle us. My materials, palette, and forms allow me to create artworks that evoke feelings of intimacy and tenderness, but also energy of life, fantasy of dreams, drives, anxieties, and fears without being fixed in any specific time or narrative. This exhibition is an invitation for the viewer to be absorbed in a magic spell immersed in a space within unreal images. Patterns and silhouettes project layers of time and meaning onto my canvases; these allude to narratives but never are they fully disclosed. These artworks are telling the chaos that embeds passions, urges, and compulsions that complete the whole.

Viviana Riccelli

COP - 19692 In the Depth of the Sea in Siquijor acrylic, collage, tissue paper on paperboard 18.00 x 42.00 cm / 7.09 x 16.55 in. 2017

COP - 19693 Eve and Adam the Flight from Paradise acrylic and collage on canvas 120.00 x 120.00 cm / 47.28 x 47.28 in. 2022

COP - 20113 People acrylic on canvas board 32.00 x 45.00 cm / 12.61 x 17.73 in. 2023

COP - 20114 The Horizon is Far acrylic on canvas board 22.50 x 36.50 cm / 8.87 x 14.38 in. 2023

COP - 20115 The Soul Tree acrylic on canvas 28.00 x 40.00 cm / 11.03 x 15.76 in. 2023

COP - 20116 The Talk acrylic on canvas 85.50 x 95.00 cm / 33.69 x 37.43 in. 2023

COP - 20117 Come Inside acrylic on canvas 114.50 x 155.50 cm / 45.11 x 61.27 in. 2023

COP - 20118 Beginning of a Journey (Diptych) mixed media on carton board on paper 30.00 x 84.00 cm / 11.82 x 33.10 in. 2023

COP - 20119 Voices acrylic on carton board 35.50 x 40.00 cm / 13.99 x 15.76 in. 2023

COP - 20120 The Yellow acrylic on canvas 115.50 x 153.50 cm / 45.51 x 60.48 in. 2023

COP - 20121 Where Do You Go? mixed media on carton board 30.00 x 42.00 cm / 11.82 x 16.55 in. 2023

COP - 20224 Look Inside acrylic on canvas 136.00 x 127.00 cm / 53.58 x 50.04 in. 2023

COP - 20226 The Magicians and The Sun acrylic on canvas 138.00 x 124.00 cm / 54.37 x 48.86 in. 2023

COP - 20227 Melting Together acrylic on canvas 154.00 x 136.00 cm / 60.68 x 53.58 in. 2023

Letter from a Neighbor Who Dropped by to See If You Were Alright

It must have been an exhilarating revelation to have landed on an island within an island and discover both comfort and chaos hidden in the depths of the sea. A painting (In the Depth of the Sea in Siquijor) from 2017 greets me as I walk into the gallery. It brings me back to when the artist first caught sight of Siquijor’s coast more than a decade ago. Lines that overshoot the picture plane are tamed by a material as humble as tissue. It creates a translucent surface like the sails of a boat. A pungent yellow brushstroke against an azure ground promises a sun-kissed shoreline at the end of a long, arduous ride. In her first solo exhibit in the Philippines entitled From the Sea to the Sky in Siquijor (2017), the artist visualizes her locality in a surreal frame of mind. How can one in a subconscious state transform the power of line and shape into multiple poetic narratives? On the one hand, Viviana carries a strong background in drawing as seen in her intricate melange of curved strokes. In Eve and Adam the Flight from Paradise (2022), a staccato of long and short lines are joined to emphasize either a vortex or a conical pathway into a luminous abyss. Her apprenticeship under the abstract expressionist Nicolas Carone signaled a turning point in her development as a painter. She would learn from him to forget conventional images and break the space into organic forms. Curvilinear lines in The Doubt (2024) allow me to rhythmically read figures and animals that populate the jungles of her mind.

On the other hand, by collaborating in the sculptural practice of artist Beverly Pepper, Viviana has nurtured an eye for the monumental. An intense sense of scale converges in her expansive image planes, drenched in color. The largest piece in the exhibition, Rising from the Gorge is also the most enigmatic. Once again we see lines seeking out the edges of her canvas, directing our vision away from a closed orifice, a portrayal of mystery and adventure. An impatient viewer could easily dismiss the figures in the painting. Could they be Viviana’s neighbors? The kind that belts out soapy love songs to a karaoke machine at the most unholy hour? But according to her, Filipinos are among the most gentle and kind people she has ever met. There must be some form of conscious and unconscious dialogue for her to live in harmony with the people and the island she found; a duality of the picture plane that allows abstraction to evolve from the chaos. How did Viviana discover this new experience? Was it she who arrived at abstraction or was it the people and the land that came to her?

Sandra Palomar February 2024

COP - 20228 Dream in a Geometry acrylic on canvas 162.00 x 122.00 cm / 63.83 x 48.07 in. 2023

COP - 20229 Inside the Heart acrylic on canvas 158.00 x 141.00 cm / 62.25 x 55.55 in. 2023

COP - 20230 Rising from the Gourge acrylic on canvas 177.00 x 122.00 cm / 69.74 x 48.07 in. 2023

About Viviana Riccelli

Viviana Riccelli, an artist born in Rome, Riccelli’s artistic exploration extended embarked on her artistic journey by beyond traditional boundaries as immersing herself in various cultural she delved into diverse cultures landscapes across Europe and and artistic avant-gardes across the beyond. She pursued her passion for Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Her art through rigorous study in Rome, experiences in countries such as Berlin, Venice, and Cairo, where she Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, honed her skills under the tutelage of Sudan, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, esteemed mentors. India, and Thailand enriched her artistic perspective, infusing her work with a Riccelli’s artistic trajectory was unique blend of cultural, intellectual, profoundly influenced by her and emotional depth. association and apprenticeship with the renowned New York Abstract Since 2011, Riccelli has called Expressionist artist, Nicolas Carone, Siquijor, Philippines, her home, from 1980 to 2009. Carone, a pivotal where she continues to pursue her figure in the American Abstract artistic endeavors. Her repertoire Expressionist movement and a encompasses a wide array of founding member of the New York techniques, including terracotta, School, played a central role in frescos, murals, and mixed media. shaping Riccelli’s artistic vision. Riccelli’s current focus lies in automatic painting and abstract landscapes, Additionally, Riccelli served as reflecting her evolving artistic ethos. an assistant to the distinguished American monumental sculptress, While Riccelli’s oeuvre predominantly Beverly Pepper, further broadening explores abstract themes, she her artistic horizons and contributing remains dedicated to the study of to major exhibitions in Italy. Pepper’s the human figure, investing time and monumental sculptures left an care in painting portraits and human indelible mark on Riccelli’s artistic forms. Drawing, she believes, is the sensibilities. cornerstone of artistic expression, underscoring its fundamental importance in her creative process.

Galleria Duemila was established in 1975 by Italian born Silvana Ancellotti-Diaz. Duemila means “twentieth century” and it was this vision that inspired Duemila’s advocacy in promoting and preserving Philippine contemporary art. To date, it is the longest running commercial art gallery in the Philippines maintaining a strong international profile. With the vision to expose its artists locally and within the ASEAN region, Duemila complements its exhibits with performances, readings, and musical events in its custom-built gallery in Pasay City, Manila.

Galleria Duemila takes pride in being the only local gallery to publish and mount retrospectives of artists as part of its advocacy in pursuing art historical research and scholarship. With the collaboration of institutions, Duemila has mounted the retrospectives of Roberto M.A. Robles (Ateneo Art Gallery, 2011), Duddley Diaz (Vargas Museum, 2009), and Julie Lluch Dalena (Cultural Center of the Philippines, 2008). It has also published a book on Diosdado Magno Lorenzo (National Library of the Philippines, 2009) and produced a major Pacita Abad exhibition at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 2004. The gallery maintains close ties with museums throughout Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States. Its futurist vision keeps it at the cutting-edge of PhiIippine art, making and archiving history as it happens. Services: Conservation and restoration of paintings, consultancy services, commissions

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