Mazzoleni is pleased to announce its participation at Artissima 2019 with an exhibition entirely dedicated to Melissa McGill and her public art project Red Regatta. This solo project will be displayed in the Main Section of the fair.
Red Regatta, an unprecedented series of four large-scale site-specific performances, activated Venice's lagoon and waterways between May and September 2019. Fifty-two traditional vela al terzo boats sailed in unison in choreographed regattas, each with sails hand-painted in distinct shades of red, developed by McGill. The reds reference forces of life and passion, alarm and urgency, and Venice itself—from its bricks and terracotta rooftops, to its flag and history of trade in red pigment, to paintings of Titian, Tintoretto and other Venetian masters.
Following the recent success of Red Regatta in Venice, this monographic show presented by Mazzoleni will display works by the artist created in three phases of the project's timeline. The first body of work includes large artist renderings, photographic works of the 2018 Regata della Coppa del Presidente della Repubblica (Presidential Cup Regatta), hand-painted by the artist with pigment, anticipating the realisation of the future performances. The second group of works are vibrant red colour studies on sailcloth and paper, exploring and creating the 52 shades for Red Regatta, as well as works made during the sail painting workshop, where the artist hand-painted all of the red sails with art students and collaborating sailors in the Arsenale in Venice. Finally, the third series includes photographs in variable sizes personally taken by the artist during the actual Red Regatta performances in which the red sails are reflected in the Venetian lagoon waters.
Melissa McGill will also take part in a talk titled Make a Better World Now! with fellow American artist Christian Holstad and Vittorio Calabrese (director of Magazzino Italian Art), which will take place on Friday 1st November at 2.30pm at the Meeting Point of the Oval, Artissima fair venue. The discussion will be dedicated to the relationship between art and environmental sustainability as well as their Venetian projects.
The solo exhibition project is intended as a prelude to the first exhibition that Mazzoleni London will dedicate to Melissa McGill in spring 2020.
Mazzoleni officially represents Melissa McGill in Europe and Asia.