Eric Mistretta's first solo exhibition in New York opeens at Scaramouche
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Monday, December 2, 2024


Eric Mistretta's first solo exhibition in New York opeens at Scaramouche
Eric Mistretta, Pale Fire 6, 2014. Stockings on canvas, 24 x 18 inches.



NEW YORK, NY.- Scaramouche presents “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant,” Eric Mistretta's first solo exhibition in New York. Mistretta finds a rich source of inspiration in seemingly conflicting feelings such as optimism in the face of despair, or sincerity undermined by naiveté. For Mistretta, comedy and tragedy demand each other in a very dynamic way, a relationship the artist seeks to articulate through paintings, sculptures and installations.

Mistretta incorporates language and recognizable cultural imagery in his work, often fusing seemingly disparate elements to create visual hybrids that elicit both a feeling of familiarity and a sense of absurdity. For instance with Pale Fire, a series of canvases constructed with multiple layers of stretched nylon pantyhose, Mistretta plays with the ambiguous role of the undergarment, which conceals as much as exalts the body that it is meant to cover. In repurposing a woman's wardrobe staple, he also explores its rich materiality to create mysterious textures and intricate linear patterns that are at once elegant but also exude intimations of lust and violence.

In other instances, the artist re-contextualizes identifiable images to infuse them with a new sensibility. In the painting Ninety Poems by Robert Frost, Mistretta's homage to a twentieth century author who tirelessly avoided innovation by relying on the traditional forms of nineteenth century poetry, the artist depicts the non-existent title of Frost's imagined volume in the style of a 1990s Newport cigarette advertisement. These ads are most remembered for conveying a heavily manufactured sense of excitement and enthusiasm, which culminated in the "Alive with pleasure!" campaign. In Ninety Poems by Robert Frost, Mistretta deploys Newport's advertising strategy to instill the painting with a sentiment deliberately at odds with Frost's sobering, rural poetry.

Similarly, the works in “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant” create a romantic slow-dance between the ordinary and the absurd. They conjure their own world in which preconceived notions cannot be trusted and the viewer is left to explore a very familiar, but ultimately strange place.

Eric Mistretta (b. 1985, Queens, NY) received his M.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts (2012) and a Bachelor of Science in Visual Arts from SUNY New Paltz (2007). Mistretta's work was featured in The Virgins Show curated by Marilyn Minter, the inaugural exhibition of Massimiliano Gioni and Maurizio Cattelan's gallery project Family Business, New York. His work has been exhibited internationally recently at F_AIR Gallery, Florence, Italy and MonChéri, Brussels, Belgium. Mistretta lives and works in New York.










Today's News

January 17, 2015

Sotheby's wins UK court battle over disputed Caravaggio painting 'The Cardsharps'

Frick Collection acquires watercolor by French realist Antoine Vollon: View of Dieppe Harbor

Young British Artists donate works in support of new gallery at Goldsmiths, University of London

New Visiting Masterpiece exhibition features Gustav Klimt's 'Adam and Eve'

The dark side of Pop Art comes to Oxford in 'Ed Paschke: Visionary from Chicago, 1968-2004'

Christie's announces the inaugural private selling exhibition in the newly opened West Galleries

Mono-ha leader Noriyuki Haraguchi opens exhibition at Fergus McCaffrey, New York

As Charlie Hebdo sells 1.9 million copies, thousands protest in Mali against Mohammed cartoon

Indianapolis Museum of Art visitors become art in interactive sculptures by Erwin Wurm

Exhibition of recent work by Philip Taaffe opens at Luhring Augustine in New York

Tomi Ungerer's first career retrospective in the United States opens at The Drawing Center

French artist Christian Boltanski's 'Sombras' opens at La Lonja de Palma de Mallorca

A selection of recent California landscapes by Ken Kitano on view at ROSEGALLERY

Eric Mistretta's first solo exhibition in New York opeens at Scaramouche

First solo exhibition of work by Daniel Green on view at Creativity Explored

Exhibition of recent paintings by Marisa Takal opens at SADE in Los Angeles

Century Arts Foundation underwrites multi-year named position for Parrish Art Museum curator

USC Pacific Asia Museum announces new acquisitions by Contemporary Pakistani artists

Open, creative, innovative: British Library announces ambitious vision for 2023

Major Mel Chin survey travels to four Houston museums

Art Gallery of Greater Victoria looks at language with first exhibition of 2015

Exhibition of projects by two innovative young artists opens at Daniel Blau

Erik van Lieshout's first solo exhibition at Anton Kern Gallery opens in New York




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful