Ca' Pesaro International Gallery of Modern Art. Venice, Italy
gallery review by Heidi Askey
Our gallery reviewer Heidi Askey takes a trip to Italy and wanders into one of the unusual modern art galleries in this famous cultural mecca.
Heidi is taken with the new photo art and gets herself into the picture as a reflection in one of them.
Heidi is a regular writer for painters TUBES and our popular artists bi-monthly TAG journal.
Ca’ Pesaro Gallery is a beautiful, ornate building situated on the winding canals of Venice. At its entrance, I was greeted by a peaceful, secluded square, facing into a grand entrance hall with immense windows. The gallery was originally intended to be a palace, which explains its splendour. Although many other areas of Venice were overcrowded at the time that I visited, Ca’ Pesaro had a scarce few tourists, which was certainly a privilege and a factor in my high regard of the experience. There was a general feeling of serenity, and an allowance to observe the artwork properly.
The ground floor contained works of a more traditional sense in medium – primarily oil paints on canvas. One in particular caught my eye; a piece by Vittorio Zecchin, 'La mille e una note' or The thousand and one nights. The lights above create a mesmerising reflection on the gold paint, highlighted by the matching gold canvas – it is a piece that is certainly best observed in person for this reason. An aspect I found most intriguing is the composition of the figures and scenery in two and three dimensions simultaneously; like a sculpture comprised of paper cut-outs that can only be viewed in its intended way from face on. There is a sense of perspective to the piece – the figures appear closer while the trees are further away – but still there is a flatness to each feature. This attribute, with the gold paint and vivid colours, make the painting seem otherworldly and mystical. Viewing this piece alongside some of Zecchin’s other work hanging on the same wall gave me a feeling of wonderment – The artist's style is so distinct, and the world that he creates so beautiful and bright. The gallery treasures this new world of Zecchin’s with its painted black walls, allowing the colours to contrast to their most extreme degree.
On the second floor, the artwork transitions to a more surreal style. This piece by Ngugi Waweru, titled Filling the Holes, is part of his project If Walls Could Talk based around the sights and experiences that man-made structures ha
