Few things are more abstract than light, and yet so dramatically objective. It creates each color of the prism as a fraction of itself. It makes the world visible. Cecilia André has spent years chasing light to create art, which has led her to develop an seemingly oxymoronic vision, both so prosaic and yet exceptional: colored shadows. By layering simple translucent materials against a light source, she found a way to capture color.
Dancing with Colors is an immersive experimentation of this process and a subversion of the traditional art space. The myth of the white cube is turned upside down by presenting an installation where nothing is hung on the walls, and yet they are fully activated. Moreover, the audience is incorporated into the work. Everything is a canvas. By choosing to enter the space and observe or dance, bodies become moving still lifes, with each gesture capable of creating a new ephemeral image. Wearing one of the white capes elevates participation, making the chromatic play tangible. Whether seen as an artist’s apron, lab coat, ghost costume, or simple piece of fabric, wearing a special piece promotes a sense of performative freedom. The current installation also has the inherent quality of refuge. It is an escape from the city within the city, a space to breathe. For a few moments, it is possible to explore a different reality, perhaps experiencing what it is like to see the world through Cecilia’s eyes.
Curated by Mina Warchavchik Hugerth
About the Artist
Cecilia André is a Brazilian artist of Lebanese descent, who has been residing in New York since 1991. Initially trained as a contemporary figurative painter, André’s work evolved into abstraction and then into mixed media, as she began using fabrics of family heritage. Colored transparencies entered André’s creative process during two residencies in Brazil, focused on site-specific installations in outdoor locations. This allowed her to integrate sunlight into her work, inviting the audience to interact with the projected colored shadows.
In 2020, André was one of six immigrant women artists selected as a Fellow of the AnkhLave Arts Alliance, receiving a grant from the Queens Council on the Arts to develop installations at the Queens Botanical Garden. Her participatory art provided an immersive and almost tactile experience, engaging the audience and raising environmental awareness. Now, in 2022, she has become the resident curator of the project.
For more information about Cecilia, visit her website www.ceciliaandre.com
Cecilia André
Artshow DANCING WITH COLORS
ChaShaMa Artspace
266 W 37th St, New York, NY
By appointment only.
Dates: June 11, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27 and July 11, 12, 13, 14 – from 4 PM to 7 PM.