City at mirror

ECC and the contemporary visions of Venice
by Silvia Baldereschi

Contemporary art is also under the charm of Venice, the protagonist of new and multidisciplinary works as it happens in the exhibition Personal Structures, promoted and curated by ECC – European Cultural Centre at Palazzo Mora, Palazzo Bembo and at Giardini della Marinaressa until Nov. 27.

In Venice, some alleys are so narrow that shop windows reflect one another. By the canals, lights and windows mirrored on the wake look hypnotic, almost psychedelic. As our vaporetto ploughs through the water, we acknowledge the wavy mirrored images of the beautiful palazzos. With the highest of tides, half of Venice ends upside down in an otherworldly, mysterious specular image. In the end, reflexes are an essential part of this city, which is why it is such a common and fruitful art trope. Exhibition Personal Structures, curated by the European Cultural Centre, invited several artists to show their interpretation a theme: Reflections.

Deanna Sirlin, Borders of Light and Water – © Federico Vespignani

Artist Deanna Sirlin found inspiration in sunrays darting over the canals and hiding under the vaults of bridges: her Borders of Light and Water is a mixed media installation that brought the rainbow into a room at Palazzo Bembo.
Daniel Ibbotson used lumber scraps, wallpaper, and other scrap items to visualize his ‘personal reflections’: Studio 54, at Palazzo Mora, is an installation that highlights Venice’s sweet decadence.
La serenata is an oil on canvas piece by Michael Rich on show at Palazzo Bembo and an abstract reinterpretation of the lunar surface. Diana Stelin’s vedutas memorialize the most suggestive reflexes in Venetian canals and the secrets, plots, and inspiration they hide.
Kristin Moore’s hyperrealistic paintings explore the geographical boundaries of this city, while Olivier Lamboray’s Surrealismo combined sky, lagoon, and ancient palaces with absurd reflective elements.

P/REVIEWS

European Cultural Centre, a heterogeneous and powerful project