The Fordistas project continues their "fostering unique and honest expression, while promoting burgeoning, undiscovered talent" with this month's exhibit focusing on Italian street muralist Jacopo "2501" Ceccarelli.
Known for his undulating monochromatic works depicting somewhat familiar creatures in defiant contortions, Ceccarelli was born in Milan and at 14 years of age became a young graffiti artist in the iconic Lombard capital, with walls that have always aspired towards the grandiose. Relocating to Brazil in his 20s, he refocused his artistic perspective as his introduction to Latin American graff did much to inspire and revitalize his energies.
He joins this year's roster of artists -- Alex Void, 2 Alas, Jufe, Pastel & Elian and Jaz -- brought together for last year's smaller-scale pieces exhibit inspired by the Ford Motor Company and South Florida. Since, the goal has shifted toward residencies nurtured by South Florida and fueled in part by challenging the artists to work outside of their immediate mediums or to utilize different methodologies and/or applications to their established structural work.
For this exhibit, "Nomadic Experiment: Tons of Tools," 2501 uses his residency to develop an informed approach to new works after a year's worth of travel.
See also: Fordista Resident Franco "Jaz" Fasoli Unveils New Work at Yo Amo 305 Gallery
Milan might at first recall the balance between the era of da Vinci's Last Supper and the modernized steel and glass buildings that currently tower above Italian gothic duomos and pump financial life into the country; this disparate dichotomy underlies Ceccarelli's work. His murals -- distorted creatures from nonexistent fairy tales -- are as much an abstraction in their own right as they are calculated mathematical exercises.
There's a thematic bond between fellow Fordista Franco "Jaz" Fasoli in that they are both drawn to the majestic forces of bestiaries, imagined or real, and in the scope in which they both present. However, while Jaz tackles the absurdity of human pack mentality in his anthropomorphosis, 2501 goes for the visceral reduction of kinetic applications that lend an almost 3D texture to the unspoken narratives of his compositions. It could be implied that his works are equal parts fantasy, rejected children's book illustrations, and/or sketches for monuments memorializing wars from a time when pack animals were still military equipment.
The main angle here, of course, is to put the artist slightly at odds with his regular output and it will be interesting how this well-traveled and Old-World-meets-New-World practitioner filters even more international stimuli into new works that support the program's overall vision, his standing artistic canon, and South Florida's influence.
Fordistas presents "Nomadic Experiment: Tons of Tools" from 7 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, October 11, at Yo Amo 305, 2311 NW Second Ave., Miami.
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