For the past decade, Beatrice Caracciolo has experimented with a variety of materials, starting with her trademark charcoal drawings in which collaged elements often come to the fore. She has developed a series of works in zinc, a medium which bears witness to the passage of time. Of greyish appearance—the colour of time gathered—the recycled zinc used by the artist is the product of chemical reactions provoked by its exposure to natural elements. In Caracciolo’s zinc sculptures, different greys coexist, the outcome of the artist gathering a variety of pieces, each suffused with its own markings and coloration. Each fragment bears a different imprint, the result of erosion by the joint action of windsewpt rain and humidity. Here and there lines of fracture appear—fragments of metal not perfectly aligned, but juxtaposed in a seemingly commonplace manner—roughness and refinement reconciled.
Read MoreBeatrice Caracciolo’s work is evocative of areas of fluctuation between solid and fluid states of matter, perhaps as a way of declaring her obsession with the quasi—alchemical processes. It points to the fact that her work is very much concerned with ways to depict displacements of energy. Ultimately we realise that the gesture underlying the construction of the zinc pieces is directly related to that of her charcoal drawings; the trajectory of lines defined by various overlapping fragments of zinc can be assimilated to lines “etched” in space. In her trademark large drawings, superimposed, overlapping and disseminated traces of various lines all testify to a complex interaction between conscious thought and the effects of chance and the unforeseen.
Since the 1990s, Caracciolo has had numerous solo and group shows throughout Europe and the United States. In 2010, a retrospective of her works was held at the Villa Medici in Rome. More recently, her solo shows have included “Terra d’ombra,” at Almine Rech Gallery, Paris, in 2012; “Attraversare il Fuoco,” at Almine Rech Gallery, Paris, in 2013; “Battaglia,” at Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, in 2013; and a further untitled exhibition at Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, in 2014.
