Opening 7-9PM April 3, 2014

abstract art, assemblage, chance operations, collage, Community, contemporary art, fine art, gallery, giovanni, it can't be helped, rabideye, sales, shoganai, show, spezzacatena, VIU, wabi-sabi

opening April 3, 2014 at 7PM

Long story short: I have been working hard and want to share my stuff with you. It’s unusual, colourful and mostly abstract on wood panel. There will be over 50 works, I gather.

See some samples of my work here .

Long story long(ish): “It can’t be helped: Shoganai” is a collection of recent abstract works I have produced. I work in acrylic, beeswax, clay, ink, silk, copper, wood, buttons and other found objects in colourful, non-representational work that has key elements akin to the Japanese wabi-sabi aesthetic, of which Shoganai (the show’s subtitle) is but one aspect.

My work plays with colour, texture, basic curvilinear forms and chance operations, that keep one hand in representation, while not being ruled by it.

The cradled wood panels I primarily use, allow me to work in depth as well as manipulating the surface, using scraped, painted, scratched, polished and applied elements, while being able to build up layers of colour through the use of sgraffito and wax resist methods more familiar to the world of pottery and sculpture. Throughout, the work keeps a light touch and a film/collage aesthetic that navigates between old comic strips, mock reliquaries, abstract artdadaarte poveraoutsider art, and a bit of science fiction/fantasy.

Giovanni’s bio.