Mind the Gap! Lisa Cirenza’s Recent Works
at Artvera’s Art Gallery

by Dr. Barbara Aust-Wegemund, Art Historian

Artvera’s Art Gallery
1, Rue Etienne Dumont
CH-1204 Geneva, Switzerland

Opening Reception, Thursday, November 27, 6.00-10.00 pm
Exhibition, November 28, 2014 - January 24, 2015

"Mind the gap!" is the audible or visual warning phrase issued to rail passengers in the UK to take caution while crossing the gap between the train door and the station platform. The London based artist Lisa Cirenza has heard this phrase countless times, while creating a series of artworks investigating the gaps and the non-gaps between the people she sees.

Trained as a classical oil painter, Cirenza is also a scientist. Her work employs the latest digital technologies and conjoins these with traditional techniques. Most of her work is done live in her urban surroundings on her iPad, not from photos - a rarity in the art world today. iPads allow artists a breadth of colours, tools and marks hitherto unavailable to them in on-the-go urban environments, and Cirenza maximises the potential of these new tools. These vivid drawings she then converts into large oils that maximise the light rendering techniques of the Old Masters; in a studio that resembles a cross between a chemistry lab, a computer lab, and a traditional artist’s studio. 

At her last show, Cirenza asked the viewers to explain what was happening in her painting entitled “Gazes.” All of the females asked had one version, whereas the males had a version diametrically opposed. She asks important questions here. How might our perceptions of people and their interactions be dominated by our conditioning? How can we move beyond these conditionings?

Her complex past allows her to view her subjects through the lenses of a human rights advocate, and educator, a political scientist, and a global nomad; adding socio-political dimensions to her compositions that are both poignant and thought provoking.

In reviewing her artistic concepts, Lisa Cirenza explains the meaning behind this series: “In this age of ubiquitous “Selfies," my artwork takes us outside this self-obsessed world to that of “Otheries”. Take a minute to really look at the virtually invisible people that surround us daily. Look without blinders, nor lenses that bias our perceptions. What do we share? How do we differ? What binds us? What moves us, and what destroys us? Photos can give us too much information - a soul is a powerful subject defined by energy that I want to share and transmit via brushstrokes, light, gestures and colours. I want my viewers to engage with energies that unite us and not be distracted by superficial details that divide us.”

Lisa Cirenza currently lives and works in London, UK. A graduate from Stanford University (USA), she has continued her studies at Central Saint Martins London (UK), The Prince’s Drawing School London (UK), Norfolk School of Painting (UK), Jean Pierre Brazs Studio Paris (France), The Art Academy London (UK), and Sumi-e Master Sessions (Japan). She has been short-listed for the East West Artist 2D prize, won the Art Academy Multimedia Award, and has been selected as one of four European artists to be an East West Artist in residence in Kyoto Japan in March 2015. Her work is represented in numerous public and private collections in Canada, Japan, Australia, USA, St. Lucia, Latvia, Sweden, and the UK.

She has previously exhibited her work in London at The Other Art Fair in Old Truman Brewery, Gallery K, The Framer’s Gallery, Angel Tube Station, Hackney Wicked, Regents Park Tube Station, and the Candid Arts Trust.

Highlighted in the exhibition at Artvera’s Art Gallery are in-depth presentations of Lisa Cirenza’s recent works which feature portraits of people in public spaces, addressing the experience and representation of (hidden) beauty and emotions. No doubt, that these drawings evoke awakening obsessions, solitude and joy, as well as the significance of the subconscious in our daily lives. The works are a variety of simple yet sophisticated, drawing and painting techniques which overlay and simultaneously uncover our urban space and soul; brutally honest, but with a sense of humour.

Lisa Cirenza’s work searches and explores urban space: its antagonisms and synchronicities, identifying secret insecurities and identities. At the same time, it is a very personal and vulnerable journey, rendering herself as subject matter in various internal dialogues. Take care. Mind the Gap!

EXHIBITION
Contemporary Boom!
November 28, 2014 - January 24, 2015
Opening Reception, Thursday, November, 27, 6.00 – 10.00 pm

CONTACT GALLERY
Artvera’s Art Gallery
1, Rue Etienne Dumont
CH-1204 Geneva, Switzerland
Phone: +41. (0)22 311 05 53
Info@artveras.com
www.artveras.com

OPENING HOURS
Monday-Friday, 9.30 am - 6.00 pm
Saturday, 11.00 am - 5.00 pm

CONTACT ARTIST
Studio Lisa Cirenza
art@cirenza.com
www.cirenza.com
Follow me on twitter: @ArtCirenza
Instagram: Art.LC
FB: https://www.facebook.com/LisaCirenzaFineArt

CONTACT AUTHOR 

Dr. Barbara Aust-Wegemund
Krokusweg 6a
22869 Hamburg-Schenefeld
Germany
Phone +49.(0)40.840 503 55
Mobile +49.(0)179.460 5679
info@arthistoryconsulting.de
www.arthistoryconsulting.de

About the Author:

Dr. Barbara Aust-Wegemund, born in Zurich/ Switzerland, is an Art Historian and Managing Director at Art History Consulting (AHC), based in Hamburg. She studied Art History at Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel (Germany), University for Foreigners Perugia (Italy) and London Guildhall University (UK).

In 2002 she earned her PhD from University of Kiel with a Dissertation on Modern Sculpture: “Sources of Inspiration.The Meaning of Nature in Henry Moore´s Late Work.” Barbara is an art historian and art critic who has written widely on modern and contemporary art. Her essays have been featured in monographs, exhibition catalogues, e-zines, journals and the online editorial department of Goethe Institute Inc.