LdM Gallery exhibition – Resili-art

By Francesca Leggio, Sophmore BA Student

Each semester students studying at the Instituto di Lorenzo de Medici create amazing pieces of art, and some are chosen at the end of the semester to take part in an art gallery. With the Covid-19 pandemic affecting our fall semester, students were able to showcase their resilience and personal growth through their art. The Instituto di Lorenzo de Medici chose to name the exhibition Resili-art, focusing on the students’ ability to overcome the hardships and uncertainties in the world during the fall semester. Many of the projects that were chosen had been started since the beginning of the fall semester when Florence was still in yellow zone and there was relative freedom and normalcy throughout the city. About halfway through the semester the city moved into orange, then red zone (lockdown). Our theoretical classes moved online during the second lockdown, but our practical classes were still in person and students were able to continue working on their projects. Many of the Marist BA students were featured in the art exhibit, including Faith England, Hallie Schiller, Avery Johnson, Francesca Leggio, Elizabeth DiMuccio, and Muskaan Manghnani. Each of their projects presented ideas of acceptance, introspection, fear, and change of narrative. These themes illustrate the complex human ability to have creative power in difficult situations.

The pandemic has strongly affected everyone’s lives, and it was difficult to accept the changes that had to happen for life to continue. Acceptance is a progression into healing your soul, but it takes time and is never easy. Faith England’s self-portrait portrays resistance through presenting ourselves in public during 2020. England has a defiant presence in her portrait because the mask is reminding us of how social order has affected our bodies. Wearing masks, although it covers most of our face, does not cover our identities. In England’s own words, “The System” is a self-portrait created during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. This painting represents the restriction within the classroom, as well as the current circumstances that have arisen within our society. It did not allow for any conceptual freedom, and there were safety measures that needed to be taken in light of the pandemic that included wearing masks and spacing at least 1m apart. It is the product of this lack of freedom.” To view more of Faith England’s artwork click here.

During the fall semester, students were in lockdown for the last month and had to isolate themselves at home. That month of isolation offered important moments of introspection for students. We have found different forms of communication, joy in simpler things, and paid more attention to our views from the windows. Marist student Hallie Schiller created an incredible oil painting, which was featured in the Lorenzo de Medici Resili-art on-line exhibition. Schiller’s painting of a small section of “After Portrait of Leopold de Medici in swaddling”, created by Jacopo Ligozzi in 1618 for the Medici familyby, focuses on the intimate everyday details of domestic interiors. Schiller reimagined the painting concentrating on drapery, tissue qualities, embroidery, and laces within the lavish interiors of the Medici family. Drawn to the quality of intricate detailing on top of a softly draped fabric, the artist pays special attention to the characterization of the different types of brushstrokes and colors that were necessary to create a harmonious composition.

Another theme from the LdM gallery on-line exhibition was fear. Florence is a city covered in art, and is filled with typically absurd creatures on ornamentations, door knockers, and cornices. Take a walk in the Uffizi Gallery and you can see how many artists have portrayed the theme of fear in their paintings and sculptures. Two Marist BA students, Francesca Leggio and Avery Johnson, portrayed fear in their artworks basing the subject on mythological tales, Armida, and Scylla, and Charybdis.

Leggio highlights how her diptych is an interpretation of Cecco Bravo’s “Armida” (c1650) with a combination of abstraction and figuration. Leggio uses techniques similar to Bravo’s Baroque and Mannerist style, while also focusing on creating an overall harmonious composition. This painting kept the motifs of Cecco Bravo’s “Armida” in her reconceptualization, giving the impression of mystery and fear. To view more of Leggio’s work click here.

Johnson’s charcoal on paper “Scylla and Charybdis” is is based on the contrasting themes of chaos and order. Recalling Scylla and Charybdis in the Odyssey, no choice is harder or simpler than another, only different. This piece is a figurative experimentation of this idea. Monsters, dragons, and snakes create feelings of fear and curiosity, but their portrayals in art help to neutralize their threat, and serve as an apotropaic function. See more of Johnson’s work by clicking here.

An important aspect of art is that it often changes the narrative, and raises questions. Art acts as a safe passage to alternate realities, and students have used this quality in their works. Students Elizabeth DiMuccio and Francesca Leggio were able to create portraits that bring us to an alternate universe and suspend a moment in time.

When describing her painting, DiMuccio says “I created a self-reclining nude portrait using bright colors inspired from various experiences I have had with hues. My attraction to color intertwines with the connection I have to human figures. It was a specific experience with exotic dancers in a room of color that sparked my initial thought for this piece. The flat organic shapes represent formality within me with an overall harmonious composition using color theory.” Check out more of DiMuccio’s work here.

Leggio’s “Isabel 1” and “Isabel 4”’s dark background emphasizes the focus solely on the subject. This approach is inspired by the high contrast and highlights in Rembrandt’s portraits with realistic, and serious expressions. With the high contrast lighting being used, the photographs have a sense of mystery and suspend time.

Another quality of art that I admire is its ability to change the narrative, and bring about discourse to help us make sense of a situation. Student Muskaan Manghnani created two pieces, “Swish” and “Hold On” that perform at a metaphoric level.

“Swish” depicts a fish jumping out of water that makes us question the role of its natural habitat. By having the fish moving out of the water the artwork suggests that we too need to get out of our comfort zones to survive. This piece of art perfectly defines the author´s love for mixed media art; Manghnani enjoys playing around with different mediums around and creating new things. And the colors and movements in ‘Swish’ have a playful and fun feel, which is what the artist felt while working on it.

Manghnani’s other work, “Hold On”, represents the resistance to accept and adjust to change. The grasping hand in the artwork makes us inflexible to adjust to life while representing the idea of holding onto life, optimism, and opportunities. This piece allowed for the artist to strengthen her skills drawing human figures. This gave way to a newfound confidence in detailing anatomy through drawing.” View more of Manghnani’s work here.

Resilience was an important theme for LdM to choose for the fall semester gallery because resilience allows us to bounce back after complying with changes. Keeping in mind all the adjustments that everyone had to go through this past year, students found solace in art and were able to represent their resilience through their projects. This resulted in many amazing pieces that start dialogues on acceptance, fear, denial, and the need to overcome.