Film by Eric Minh Swenson. Music by David Tagg.
Ace Gallery presents a solo exhibition by Natalie Arnoldi on Friday, May 1st, 2015 from 7:00 - 9:00 PM at Ace Gallery Los Angeles located at 5514 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036.
These opaque works necessitate a deeper comprehension of her subjects beyond what they explicitly represent. Roads emerge from a thick blanket of fog; airplane lights dazzle in an early morning haze; fireworks ignite an onyx-vblack night sky; her paintings separate the viewer from the world of harsh lines, distinct form, and certainty; transporting them into the calm and sometimes unsettling world of ambiguity and solace.
The harmonious balance that arises from a lack of extraneous detail and the attention to vaporous texture creates layers of profound and psychological nuances that the viewer is encouraged to explore. It is this masterful appreciation for the sublime that allows the viewer to become immersed into the dense, nebulous and seemingly endless atmosphere of her paintings.
“I am very interested in exploring the line between abstract and figurative work - trying to combine the ambiguous evocativeness of abstract painting with enough figurative representation to place the viewer in a specific time and space.” Her minimal works employ universally understood subject matter to facilitate entry into the unique world she has created. This world is both familiar and mysterious, as it emcompasses both an
understanding of modern amenities (roads, planes and fuel stations), and a sense of nostalgia, as if these modern conveniences were abandoned in decades prior.
Arnoldi’s fascination with the ocean and modern science emerges in her art with an unlikely marriage between romantic art and logic-driven science. These atmospheric works embody an ethereal layer of haze that swallows even the subtlest drops of light, transforming them into beacons that signal human presence in even the most desolate of places.
“I choose the imagery for several reasons, the first of which being, of course, that they appeal to me. Airplanes, transportation, fossil fuels, dying technologies and environments; all are very important to me in both my academic and artistic life.”
“Both processes, science and art, are a form of exploration, at once (both) highly emotional
and analytical, but always inquisitive.”
Natalie Arnoldi was born in 1990 and lives and works southern California. Recently graduating from Stanford University with a Masters degree in Earth Systems specializing in ocean science and policy along with her Bachelors in Marine Biology, Arnoldi has seamlessly coalesced her academic pursuits with her artistic expression. Since Arnoldi’s first exhibition at the age of 19, her precocious beginnings have expanded to include over 25 exhibitions.
For more info on Eric Minh Swenson visit his website at thuvanarts.com. His art films can be seen at thuvanarts.com/take1
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