Proposals for Remnants Review

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Since its’ opening in 1998 , Angelina Gualdoni is the third artist to have a solo exhibit at the Kavi Gupta Gallery located in downtown Chicago. Open only until May 9th, "Proposals for Remnants" is an awe-inspiring exhibit based around the notions of the entropy of debris in spaces abstracted by Gualdoni’s use of paint and textures.

My initial reaction to the exhibit was one of surprise. Gualdoni’s materials are conventional and traditional, the use of oils, acrylics and canvas are uncommonly used in the “textbook definition” of contemporary art. Being introduced in a highly technological age, contemporary artists pride themselves on incorporating these new technologies in their artwork by using photography, film, computers and sculpture to express their messages.

Although her materials are common, her innovative use of paint and canvas in relation to the subject matter of her artwork is vital in expressing her message about materialism and society today. In her work Proposals for Remnants, for which the title of the show is named, is comprised of a layered pile of random items, most of which are unidentifiable. From what I can decipher, it looks as if the items in the painting are a collection of scrap paper, possibly some yarn and a few other items that would be used for the purpose of arts and crafts. These objects all relate to a somewhat childlike atmosphere, one similar to programs designed to teach arts and crafts to young children or even these materials remind me of a grade school classroom. Whichever it may be, Gualdoni’s image focuses a great detail on the arrangement of the paper; everything is strewn about and disorderly, but the environment is blocked out from the image. There is no sense of life, except from what we can imagine. Therefore, an imaginary force could have facilitated the disorder and chaos of the paintings objects. The lack of perspective and depth further the idea of an imaginary world, as does the ethereal painted background done from using paint mixed with a higher concentration of medium.

The backgrounds of the paintings are all done using the same technique of a thinned out paint, which creates a watercolor effect. In March through April, Gualdoni applies her “watercolor effect” to the background of rocks and other various unknown objects, piled together. In regards to the background, it is interesting to see that she chooses to leave a border around the canvas. The negative space is in direct contrast of the sort of “bubble” Gualdoni creates with her objects placed in the middle.

In March through April, the area around the objects is painted as If to suggest an expansion of space. Gualdoni does not chose to paint a harsh outline around the object’s space, but instead she paints an ambiguous shape with the gray paint that is allowed to enter the negative space of the border in forms of drips fading. Although it looks unintentional and just a cause of the thinned paint, the surrounding area is meant to drip off the edge of the canvas and enter the negative space. The stringy lines exiting the canvas are very similar to a spider’s web and the painted image in the middle is like a creature stuck in the web. Probably a stretch, but the title of the painting and the rocks in the painting all point towards spring and nature, which can be linked to a spider web.

The entire canvas is comparable to a Polaroid photograph. An ambiguous background that is trying to envelop the entire area of the canvas, similar to a photograph being developed, surrounds the image. Gualdoni’s paintings are like snapshots of the developing process, the image is striving to complete itself and fill the canvas. The subject matter can then be read as a reflection on the current social situation where randomness and disorder are “taking over” society just as Gualdoni’s images are trying to fill the canvas.