Microscope is very pleased to present as part of our ongoing emerging artist series YES a screening of new and recent collaborative works by Philip Cartelli & Mariangela Ciccarello and a selection of new videos by Sonia Leimer
Similar concerns inspire works in the program such as the topic of migration, the fragility of cultures, as well as the fantasy/expectation of discovering and conquering new territories both on Earth and in space. Other areas of overlap of otherwise distinct and unique bodies of work — by the artists who all in part engage with their Italian origins or descent — are the extensive use of voice-overs and found or original film footage, interspersed within longer sequences in high definition video.
Cartelli and Ciccarello’s video works, situated between fictional narrative and alternative documentary, focus on two islands of the Mediterranean Sea, Lampedusa (in “LAMPEDUSA”) and Malta (in “SUBLUNARY”), known for their multi-cultural history and as destinations of migratory flows. The irreducible strength of these films is in the alignment of the viewer’s perspective as it observes the coastline of these islands onscreen, with those of the millions of immigrants today and in the past who have hoped for the sight of land. Leimer’s work often finds its point of departure in the process of learning about past traditions, and the way in which they grapple with and are redefined by contemporaneity, as seen in her films “Via San Gennaro” and “Pink Lady” described in the program notes below. The ephemerality of cultural heritages on the brink of disappearance — such as the “Apple Crown” ceremony in her birth town Meran (Italy) or master-puppeteer Tony de Nonno's "Opera dei Pupi” in Little Italy — is somewhat prolonged by her camera.
Cartelli, Ciccarello, and Leimer in attendance and available for Q&A following the screening.
_
Mariangela Ciccarello (1983, Italy) is an artist working in moving image, installation, and sculpture. Her work has been featured at the Locarno Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Torino Film Festival, Harvard Art Museum, and Film at Lincoln Center among other venues. She was a participant in the 2018 edition of the Feature Expanded international film production workshop. In 2019-20 she is a participant in the Whitney Independent Study Program – Studio Program.
Philip Cartelli (1984, USA) is a moving-image artist and researcher. His film and video works have been exhibited at the Festival del film Locarno, Edinburgh International Film Festival, FIDMarseille and Art of the Real, among others. He holds a PhD in Media Anthropology from Harvard University, where he was a member of the Sensory Ethnography Lab. He also holds a PhD in Sociology from the Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales. He is Chair of the Visual Arts Department at Wagner College.
Sonia Leimer (born in Meran, Italy) lives and works in Vienna. She studied Architecture at the Technical University of Vienna and at the Academy of Fine Art Vienna and was a founding member of the architecture office and gallery Nullmaschine (2001–02). Her monthly radio broadcast “Image and the City” was on Radio Orange from 2005 to 2012. 2012 – 2016 Teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. 2017 – 2018 teaching „Installation and Architecture“ at the ETH Zürich, department Architecture and Art. 2019 Project Collaboration with Alessandra Cianchetta, Cooper Union – The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, New York City. She has exhibited her work internationally at Kunsthaus Zürich; artothek, Cologne; Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles; Barbara Gross Galerie, Munich; Basis Frankfurt; BAWAG Contemporary, Vienna; Galerie n.chst St. Stephan, Vienna; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Leopold Museum, Vienna; LAMOA Los Angeles Museum of Art; Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen; MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles; Manifesta 7, Rovereto; Mumok – Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna; Museion, Bozen, Italy; Museum der Moderne, Salzburg; Salzburger Kunstverein; the 5th Moscow Biennale, and the 14th Fellbach Triennale.
More info and full program available at microscopegallery.com