Flashpoint Gallery Presents
Matthew Mann: The Cinecitta Chapel
August 6 – September 4, 2010
Opening Reception: Friday, August 6, 6-8pm
Pink Panel @ Flashpoint: Wednesday, August 25, 6-8pm; $10 suggested donation
WASHINGTON, DC – Flashpoint Gallery is pleased to announce painter Matthew Mann's first solo exhibition in Washington, DC. Adapted from Renaissance artist Giotto's Arena Chapel fresco cycle in Padua, Italy, Mann's The Cinecitta Chapel is comprised of six large-scale paintings. Created over the last year and a half, Mann's epic series replaces the religious iconography of Giotto's frescoes with cowboys and cartoon violence, creating pop culture allegories steeped in American myth.
The scenes that make up The Cinecitta Chapel are each adapted from one of Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel frescoes depicting the apocryphal story of Joachim. Mann combines pictorial elements of the fresco cycle with visual inspiration from the Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone and the cartoons of Chuck Jones. The paintings' skewed perspectives, familiar yet unfamiliar imagery and unresolved Technicolor dramas invite viewers to imagine their own stories based on the ambiguous narratives in the paintings.
Playing with ideas of representation and narrative, and questioning the notion of "American-ness" is at the heart of the The Cinecitta Chapel. Employing humor and wit, Mann questions our myths and predicaments in a darkly comical and irreverent manner.
On Wednesday, August 25, the gallery will partner with Pink Line Project to present Pink Panel @ Flashpoint, a panel discussion with artist Matthew Mann and Chief Creative Contrarian Philippa Hughes about the exhibition. “Thought DJs” Adam Good and Jon Lee’s WE ARE SCIENCE! will give a live performance in conjunction with the event. The event begins at 6pm and there is a $10 suggested donation.
Flashpoint Gallery
916 G Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
202.315.1305
Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 12-6 pm or by appointment
202.315.1310 or visit flashpointdc.org
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