BEATRICE PEDICONI:
SUBJECT TO CHANGE
February 15 – March 23, 2019
sepiaEYE is honored to present Subject to Change, our second solo exhibition by Beatrice Pediconi. Pediconi is a multimedia artist whose work utilizes a hybridized technique to explore tendencies of flux, displacement and disorder in both the natural and human worlds. In Subject to Change, the series and video recalls her earlier work of experimentation with the properties of water, and are part homage, part disruption, to this ubiquitous molecule. Trussed by photography, video, and painting, her work examines the concept of equilibration applied to natural systems.
Pediconi entitled her work Gaea in reference to the Ancient Greek personification of Mother Earth. “Born of Chaos but as Chaos receded, Gaea came into being — complete in herself.” The transformational process that emerges from destruction into light is at the core of this series. After a trip to New Orleans, Pediconi was struck by the abuses of the land from water. “I saw how much in that land is felt the double aspect of water: life and death.”
The creation of Pediconi’s work stems from a desire to explore the interrelationship of adaptability, the intrinsic need for stability, and the desire for equilibrium in response to disruptive motions. Subject to Change explores those relationships. Each image, an aerial view of the contamination of water, seeks to evoke the beauty inherent in disorder, to portray the tension between chaos and equilibrium, the inevitable proliferation of life in its myriad forms. Pediconi’s work explores the dissolution of boundaries and the inevitable push towards renewal.
The Polaroid process is critical to the creation of this series: this rare, dynamic medium perfectly matches the semi-permeable interaction of the subject elements. Unlike discrete digital photography, the Polaroid process is that of an image being “painted” onto a canvas. The mediums are perfectly wed in that one augments the other’s intended effect of suspending time. As the painting dies, the photograph comes to life.
“My purpose is to touch human issues through approaching environmental themes. I believe that being human is entertaining impossible odds: despite the inevitability of decay, we cling to hope; despite the probability of disaster, we stay optimistic. GAEA, in this sense, is a juxtaposition of elements of stillness and change, of death and life, of regeneration and the inevitable proliferation of entropy in our evolving world. We cannot repeat our experiences or processes, just as two dissolved liquids can never be emulsified again.”
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Pediconi’s solo exhibitions include Untitled, shown at Arles as part of “Together, photography: The collections of the Maison Européenne de la Photographie (2015), Ephemeral Pigments, The Institute of Fine Arts, New York (2014), 9’/Unlimited, Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia (2013), Untitled, Italian Academy, Columbia University, New York (2011), and No Trace, at the Macro Museum of Contemporary Art, Rome, Italy (2011).
Notable international group exhibitions include The Other View, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome (2018) and Triennale di Milan (2015), Nucleus/Imaging Science, Noorderlich Photofestival, Grooningen, The Netherlands (2017), On/Off Festival Video, Habana, Cuba (2017), The Other Half of Art. Women Artists from the Macro Collection, Macro, Rome (2015), Plumbing-Sequence VII-Real Time video Biennial, Reykjavik, Iceland (2015), Expression Méditerranéennes de la Poesie à L’engagement, Hotel des Artes, Toulon, France (2015), The Polaroid Years, Vassar, NY (2013), L’eau et le Reves, Normandie Impressionist Festival, Normandie, France (2013), The Edge of Vision, Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, Arizona and at the Shneider Museum of Art, OR (2010). Pediconi has won the VII Biennial of Experimental Art in Saint Petersburg, Russia (2008) and her work has been featured in Italian and international magazines, including Il Giornale dell’Arte, Artforum, Harper’s Magazine, Art in America, and Photograph Magazine. She was awarded a Yaddo residency Fellowship in 2018 and a Djerassi artist in Residency fellowship for 2019.
Pediconi’s monographs include, Something Alien (Danilo Montanari Editore, 2016) with text by Lyle Rexer, Artist book, 9’/ Unlimited, Collection Maramotti (2013), RED (De Luca Editori D’Arte, Rome, 2011), and No Trace (Contrasto), Rome, 2011.
She currently lives and works in Long Island City, New York.
BEATRICE PEDICONI: SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Exhibition Dates: February 15 – March 23, 2019
Opening Reception: February 14, 2019 6-8pm
Discussion with the Artist and Jean Dykstra (Photograph Magazine) and Mary-Kay Lombino (Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center): March 21, 2019, 6:30-8pm
Press Release (PDF)
Exhibition List (PDF)
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