These images are a piece of work that has been selected to show in an exhibition called ‘For The Love of the Master - 25 artists fascinated by Piranesi’ at Casino Marino, Dublin from 18 June to 18 September 2022.
Titled ‘The Eternal City’ my work is a response to the work of Giovanni Battista Piranesi; an Italian architect, antiquarian, etcher, vedutista, designer and writer who was one of the foremost artistic personalities of the 18th century in Rome.
Postponed from 2020 due to covid, this exhibition celebrates the tricentenary of the birth of Piranesi and features contemporary work by a host of other artists from all over the world. The exhibition is free admission and in two locations (scroll through to see the exhibition poster)
Beautifully curated by Helen Bremer and Mary Heffernan with the assistance of the extremely talented artist Matt Smith.
Description:
This collage envisions ‘The Eternal City’ of Rome by framing it through the all-seeing eye at the apex of Piranesi’s ‘Pyramid of Cestius’, which gazes on past, present and future. Merging remnants of classical architecture with twentieth century Brutalism and sci-fi fantasies of futurity, Piranesi’s pyramid becomes a substitute for religious iconography, held in suspension between heaven and earth, while classical fragments from Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel serenade the skies.
As well as fragments from Piranesi’s work, I have also added my own, signature snippets from Hollywood’s vintage hey-day. Rome-related movies - Ben Hur, Sparticus, and Roman Holiday - sit beside the skateboarders, Sex Workers and graffiti art of today’s twenty-first century city.
Fusing these rich elements, my revisioning of Rome is both modern and fantastical: a timeless dream of the city. The piece is made using vintage ephemera and archival inkjet pints, all hand cut and glued.