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A R T

Domenico Gnoli illuminated objects in question and experienced their magic through painting

Fondazione Prada is a contemporary art museum co-chaired by Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli. In Milian, the museum's exhibition Domenico Gnoli showcases the artist's work from 1949 to 1969. The Prada namesake museum has steered away from poignant references to fashion, but Gnoli's paintings create a merge between garment and painting. 

Domenico Gnoli (Rome, 1933 – New York, 1970) had worked as an illustrator, and set designer, then turned to large-scale paintings. 

From the article The Peculiar Perfectionism of Domenico Gnoliby by Emma Harper for Apollo Magazine:

"As Gnoli himself explained in an interview with Jean­Luc Daval for Le Journal de Genève, 'My themes come from the world around me, familiar situations, everyday life; because I never actively mediate against the object, I experience the magic of its presence.' As opposed to Pop's celebration of consumer culture, his paintings illuminate the objects in question. And while they can border on abstraction – it's easy to become so engrossed in a stitch, a pattern, or even a colour that you almost forget what you're looking at – his paintings revere the mundane, which is charged with a life force just outside of view."

Up and coming contemporary photographer Donavon Smallwood is one to watch

Donavon Smallwood’s series Languor captures Black leisure at Central Park. For context, the word languor means the state of feeling, often pleasant, of tiredness or inertia. He took the images during the beginning of the pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests of 2020. The series was shot on black and white medium format film, lending a serine dream-like feeling. From January 21st to March 12th, 2022, images from Langour and a newer series, Beebe, will be displayed at The Print Center in Philadelphia.

Exhibition statement from The Print Center:

A life-long resident of Harlem, Smallwood turned to the park as a refuge in the difficult days of lockdown and isolation due to COVID. However, it was not the bucolic landscape that drew his attention in the park, but the people within it – both neighbors and passersby. It was important to Smallwood for his sitters to feel comfortable – at home. “Its [“Languor’s”] subject is what it’s like to be a Black person in nature,” says Smallwood. Picturing Black people in this context references the history of Seneca Village, a 19th century Black community at the heart of what is now Central Park. “Languor” is influenced by that history as well as the artist’s own interest in the Romantic poet and artist William Blake, who is known for his transcendental works.

Smallwood will be doing a virtual artist talk presented by The Print Center on February 10th. Information is linked here.

Finding Donavon Smallwood’s work directed me to learn about Seneca Village. In an effort to commemorate the history, Central Park Conservancy has shared information on the Seneca Village community that was once a section of what is now Central Park linked here.

Both artworks mentioned can be purchased in book form!

L O C A L

Tell the city of Dallas what you really think

…about the city’s land-use policy! Here is a link to a survey conducted by City Hall where you can leave input on housing, parks, infrastructure, etc.

M U S I C

Get ready for Valentine’s Day with a love song playlist