Daily Serving/Art Practical Reviews of Building the Noble Ruin
April 9, 2016
As Building the Noble Ruin entered its final days at the Anderson Ranch Art Center galleries, the international publication for contemporary art Daily Serving and the SACI Art Blog offered reviews of the exhibition and the artists’ talks.
Press Coverage
“One of the most arresting installations is a triptych titled Fraternitas Misericordia in Pace Prima del Diluvio/At Peace Before the Deluge (1964–2015). The work anchors a full wall, from which the subjects of the parade-size banners watch over the gallery like patron saints or vigilantes. Not only are the enormous banners imposing, the stark figures pictured seem to gaze back at viewers with candid appraisal, as though we, the gallery-goers, are the real subjects on display.”
Upon Reflection (Life) Fraternitas Misericordia in Pace Prima del Diluvio/At Peace Before the Deluge, 1964–2015; 100 x 132 in.; edition of 15. Courtesy of the Artist and Anderson Art Ranch.
“Vibrant and hyper-real, All the Light We Cannot See (1956–2015) appears, at first glance, like an extreme close-up of a cave wall or other geological wonder. The object at the heart of the work is actually a piece of Dallabrida’s own ceramic art in earthy gem tones, laid open by macroscopic photography so that every divot, notch, and gash is exposed. Don’t just reflect on the art, the image seems to suggest; instead, examine the ways in which the images reflect back on the viewer—and on the human condition—in the moment of time they represent.”
All the Light We Cannot See, 2015; Ceramic, pigment, c-print; 26 x 36 in.; Edition of 10
“With the series Upon Reflection, Dallabrida starts with found and iconic photographs from the gay community’s Golden Age—a brilliant flash of deliverance, impunity, sovereignty and immunity that characterized San Francisco before it was devastated by AIDS. With installation and projection Dallabrida pulls the essence of these historic images into the present using a manipulative technique he calls “Sympathetic Photoshop.”
The Ruins series starts with the creation of multi-layered ceramic tablets offering a personal language of symbols and textures. Dallabrida then uses high resolution, macroscopic photography to pull us deep into the ceramic, presenting an intimate new geography for the viewer to investigate. Both the ceramic tablets and photographic details are on display.
“What is a noble ruin?” Dallabrida says in an extensive interview. “Every morning when I shave I greet my noble ruin. My most honest memoir.”