Carlo D'Anselmi: Party Time

About

Thierry Goldberg Gallery is pleased to present Party Time, the second solo exhibition of Carlo D’Anselmi. The exhibition opens on October 12, with a reception from 6-8pm and will run through November 11, 2023.

Party Time traverses the topography of human nature amidst an urban night life of façade and ornament. Through painted flashes of club lights, fireworks, and disco balls, this exhibition investigates questions of social interaction and behavior. In Carlo D’Anselmi’s adroit hands, each canvas swirls into brilliant oranges and midnight blues that immerse the viewer in an enticing world of celebratory prodigality.

This series of paintings revels in compositions of large celebratory crowds. Within these throngs of people, the painted subjects seem to follow a commandment to lose themselves in shared bacchanal and congregation. Yet, at the same time, they are being found – in low lights, busy scenes, and booming soundscapes. Riddled with social, historical, and personal references, these figures are granted emotions and agendas, which generate a writhing dynamism that leaps off the canvas. D’Anselmi’s textural brushstrokes and alluring color palettes expertly coalesce into mythic tableaus of vice and virtue.

D'Anselmi positions the natural essence of parties as social gatherings that encourage physical and emotional release, in contrast to the unnatural spaces that contain them. This theme resonates powerfully in The Swing Shift, 2023, a contemporary fusion of the Lower East Side’s Clandestino Bar and Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère. The viewer is invited to stand behind the bar of a vibrant club, gazing out over the pulsating dance floor, where three luminous disco balls sway overhead, casting kaleidoscopic bursts of light on a lively crowd. In this convergence of art and nightlife, D’Anselmi masterfully captures the primal essence of celebration in its current artificial setting. What emerges is a portrait of the human spirit seeking authentic joy.

Dream Rave, 2023, poses a dialectic between the natural and the artificial, uncovering the delicate threads of nature within the fabric of artifice. In this painting a man dreams of a technicolor rave. Amidst the chaotic symphony of neon strobe lights and frenetic glow sticks, our gaze is drawn to a moment of tranquil surrealism: a dog serenely presides over the fervent revelry while three birds encircle the scene, their flight embodying an elegant counterpoint to the packed group below. D’Anselmi’s generous brushwork weaves a rich tapestry where, even in the wildest dreams, the bonds with the natural world persist in a darkened dream state. The work serves as a reminder that nature, in its multifaceted splendor, forever finds a way to assert its presence amidst the most fantastic of human creations.

Delving into the apparent dissonance between the plastic and the organic, Party Time presents a domain where the seemingly opposing forces converge and harmonize. D’Anselmi’s portrayal of parties transcends mere revelry, becoming a testament to the enduring human capacity for connection and joy. His artistic alchemy renders a poignant reminder that the man-made and the natural must coalesce to create a symphony of existence that is uniquely human and profoundly beautiful.

Carlo D'Anselmi (b. 1991, New York, NY) lives and works in Ridgewood, Queens. He holds an MFA in Painting from The New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting & Sculpture, New York, NY and a BA from Saint Anselm College, Manchester, NH. D'Anselmi has had solo exhibitions at the Asia Art Center, Taipei; The Cabin LA, Los Angeles; Pamela Salisbury Gallery, Hudson. His work has been featured in group exhibitions at Ceysson & Bénétière, New York; Kutlesa, Goldau; Eve Leibe Gallery, London; Gallery Kornfeld, Berlin; and Monya Rowe Gallery, New York. This is his second solo exhibition at Thierry Goldberg.