FLOW: Matilde Alessandra

571 Projects is pleased to present Flow, an exhibition of new and recent non-objective ink drawings on paper and light sculptures by accomplished artist Matilde Alessandra. Known for her minimalist light sculptures, 571 Projects juxtaposes these luminous works with a selection of her dramatic monochromatic ink on paper drawings. Alessandra elegantly translates the sophistication of her luminous three-dimensional works into a two-dimensional medium. The exhibition will be on view from March 16 through April 27 at 571 Projects, 56 Park Street, Stowe, Vermont. An opening reception will take place on March 16, 5 -8pm. The artist will be present and will give an informal talk.

“Flow” implies movement - a stream, the blood in our veins, or light issuing from a source - and a sense of continuity and steady rhythm. Through her minimalist, non-objective drawings and light sculptures Matilde Alessandra explores light - both as medium and as subject. Employing a restrained visual vocabulary, she exercises masterly control of her chosen media. Reducing her palette to black pen on white paper, with an occasional pop of dramatic color, she uses the most basic element of drawing - line - to create elegant illusions of energy, light and space, as her marks coalesce and disperse. Each considered gesture builds texture, tension, creating a superficial web modulating gracefully between inky black to brilliant, incandescent white. Untitled #18 (2015, ink on Bristol card, 30 x 22 in.) reveals dense veils of crosshatching that push up against a strong, central vertical line of negative space. Negative space operates similarly to a source of light emanating in the light sculptures. Light remains the central theme in these two-dimensional works. In Love Kills/2, (2014, mirrored steel, matte plexiglas, LEDs, 12 x 24 x 1 in.) the play between light and dark is given a twist - a highly reflective mirrored square is juxtaposed with a glowing square of the same dimensions, made of thick, matte plexiglass with an invisible lighting element.

Alessandra states, “My drawings are a mix of tragedy and triumph (…), about light and energy as well as darkness and negation. (…) In them there’s a real struggle between the flaws of the human mark and a striving for perfection devoid of irregularity or conflict.” While the artist is careful to leave her work open for the interpretation of each viewer, it is rich with metaphorical possibility. The illusions she creates are seductive, and we are drawn in, mesmerized by their rhythm and flow.

Born in Venice, Italy, Alessandra studied at the Academy of Fine Arts (Venice, Italy). While she began her career in London working as interior and display designer, her artistic career took off in New York in the late 1990s. She started working with light, pairing fluorescent tubes with painted canvasses and plexiglas boxes. Since then she has built a reputation both as artist and designer, developing a distinctive and communicative style recognizable in all of her work. Her artistic output spans luminous sculptures, site specific installations and ink drawings. Her work has been exhibited across Europe and the United States. Notable recent exhibitions include the 55th Venice Biennale, and Leila Heller Gallery in New York City. She lives and works in New York City.