POLE STAR Francesca Armand
Cover: Pole Dancer in Frodo Position oil on canvas, 25x35 cm, 2014
POLE STAR Francesca Armand
Curated by F_AIR - Ganzo Collective
Climbing to the Stars Francesca Armand’s graceful yet powerful exhibition, Pole Star, was born from her interest and study of pole dancers. To fully understand the dance, she began taking classes and using photos/videos of her professor as inspiration. Women who study this art must overcome obstacles both social and physical. Upon first impression, this type of dance is often declared inappropriate or scandalous, but Armand reveals the elegance and the sport behind its “sexy” facade. As well as being socially risqué, pole dancing is physically strenuous. The dance requires strength as well as continuous friction of the skin against metal. The muscles and callouses become trophies of their hard work and accomplishment. The fluidity that these women are able to achieve is truly astounding. Their movements are weightless as they slide up and down the pole seeming to defy gravity. On the pole, the woman is transformed into a raw, primitive creature; becoming only flashes of skin and blurs of hair. Each pose that Armand paints captures what is only a split second of reality. The title of the exhibit Pole Star holds a double meaning. On the surface, it refers to the dancers, but the deeper meaning alludes to the North pole star that serves as guidance for travelers, artists, and sources of inspiration to all who seek it.
Armand creates a unique environment in each of her paintings. She first paints the figure in the selected pose and after the figure is complete, she envisions a background that compliments the dancer. In Climbing Pole Dancer the figure’s expression is troubled, as though she did not achieve her pose. The muddy background and the obscurity of the figure enhance this feeling of defeat. Pole Dancer in Allegra, on the other hand, radiates success. Her pose is as certain as the rising sun behind her. Armand’s Pole Dancer-Mirror is an outlier in the way that the figure is placed in believable space: a dance studio. However, the ambiguity of the pole dancer is what ties the piece into the rest of the collection. When viewing Pole Dancer-Mirror, one has to look very closely for awhile in order to understand the pose that the dancer is doing. This piece is one of the strongest as it distorts actual reality and forces perspective in a way that reminds us of Francis Bacon’s uncanny paintings, where body parts reconnect in unexpected, disquieting new forms.
Francesca Armand’s exhibit will include watercolor portraits of various Florentine men. The portraits are complemented by paintings of dried flowers that are either incorporated into or attached to the back of the work. The two images create a relevant dialogue suggesting the woman behind every man. Unlike the artist’s rendering of the dancers, each man is depicted looking directly at us, the viewer, which creates a more personal interaction with the work.
It is our belief that the series of the watercolor Florentine men blends well with Armand’s images of the pole dancers because they both speak of gender. The pole dancers highlight women’s strength while the men are rendered soft, open, more feminine when juxtaposed with flowers. Armand’s work spotlights unexpected elements in both the male and female character. The two series seem vastly different, but they actually relate to each other on many different levels. Therefore, this exhibition begins to build an exciting array of dance, portraiture, and starts a dialogue about how gender is portrayed, while simultaneously destroying preconceived notions of the strictly “sexy” stigma that pole dancing advertises. Not only that, but Armand puts her viewer in a position to think about their very own North star and what drives them.
Mia Badham and Melissa Kreider
Pole Dancer in Pink oil on canvas, 25x35 cm, 2014
Pole Dancer - Mirror oil on canvas, 25x35 cm, 2014
Pole Dancer - Blue Pole Dancer - Blue oil on canvas, 25x35 cm, 2014
Pole Dancer in Allegra oil on canvas, 25x35 cm, 2014
Climbing Pole Dancer oil on canvas, 25x35 cm, 2014
Untitled front and back watercolor on paper, postcard size, 2014
Nicola watercolor on paper, 21x 31 cm, 2014
BIO Francesca Armand was born in Cuneo, Italy. In 1988 she moved to Florence to attend the university, where she graduated in Architecture. She began painting in 1995, mostly on commission, focusing on portraits of home interiors and their occupants. From 1997 to 1999 she lived in London, UK. When she returned to Florence, she started to work as an architect, yet she has continued to paint. Her recent artistic curriculum includes two Florentine exhibitions: the collective show ITALIA, 2011, and a solo at Cantina Barbagianni. From 2011 to 2012, she was a professor at Florence University of the Arts. She is currently living and working in Florence.
Francesca Armand’s studio, 2014
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Ringraziamenti
Pole Star by Francesca Armand CURATED BY F_AIR Ganzo Collective 2nd - 29th July, 2014 GANZO Via dei Macci 85/r Firenze Catalog TEXTS Mia Badham, Melissa Kreider GRAPHICS Alberto Simoncioni PHOTO CREDITS Melissa Kreider LOGISTIC AND MANAGEMENT F_AIR Ganzo Collective WELCOME SPEAKER Mia Badham, Melissa Kreider PRESS OFFICE PALAZZI Susanna Bausi, F_AIR-Ganzo Collective A special thanks to Gabriella Ganugi - President of Palazzi and Florence University of The ArtsGanzo and its great staff Francesca Armand would like to thank Rita Conte Pole and Oona Kivela, the pole dancers who inspired her!All portraits models: Piergiorgio Armand, Ernesto Bartolini, Giuseppe Bartolini, Francesco Bucciarelli, Spyridon Dovas, Gabriele Guerrini, Gianni Gravina, Michele Lancuba, Stefano Marrano, Marco Paparozzi, Nicola Remisceg, Giorgio Randine, Andrea Sicuro, Manfred Wachter, Ivo Wachter.Florence University of the Arts, Lucia Giardino, Mia Badham, and Melissa Kreider for making this exhibition possible.
Last but certainly not least, thanks to Ivo Wachter & Sons...and Lauretta too.
F_AIR - Ganzo Collective is a group of selected students of the course of Gallery Management and Exhibition Curating at Florence University of the Arts. Summer 2014 F_AIR - Ganzo Collective includes students Mia Badham and Melissa Kreider, coordinated by professor Lucia Giardino