Works by Vanessa Mc Knight
Curated by Mariangela Capuzzo
Hardcore Art Contemporary is pleased to announce the first solo show exhibition in Miami of artist Vanessa Mc Knight.
Vanessa McKnight’s lusciously painted narratives stem from her need to conceptually glamorize the state of anxiety inherent in today’s world. She chooses to paint specific frames from 1950’s and 60’s films as a tool to depict the tension present in the human condition in a way she refers to as "cinematic realism".
Through the stills in movies, she evolves a kind of self-protective cool that enables her and her viewers to experience emotional reality as if at a distance. As she states “I am fascinated by the altered world in film. I love the colors, textures and movement -- the celluloid feel that separates the filmed world of movies, television, and video from the actual world in which we live”.
There is something unsettlingly mysterious about Vanessa’s work. The films are her auxiliary memories and safety net – a refuge from ones treacherous being. The enigmatic characters in her paintings seem to be in a constant state of flux; mirroring life’s shifting balance between foreground and background – harmony and chaos.
Vanessa’s psychologically charged paintings challenge the audience perception of the “fictional” realm of our lives. As Vanessa states “There is a collectively unconscious fine line these days between feeling the potential impending doom of the human condition and the desire to escape our destiny through sybaritic pleasure and beauty. The paradox makes for a heady experience that I wish to express in my work.” In “Trespassing”, these poetic scenarios capture our attention by ultimately leading us to question in which element we belong to “reality or fiction”.
