Little Stone, Open Home,
Mariel Capanna
Little Stone, Open Home,
Mariel Capanna
Little Stone, Open Home,
Mariel Capanna
Little Stone, Open Home,
Mariel Capanna
Little Stone, Open Home,
Mariel Capanna
BY DANNY BASKIN
GOOD WEATHER
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS | RESPONSE
DECEMBER 19, 2017
After five exceptional years of programming and over 30 solo shows within its walls, Good Weather gallery in North Little Rock, Arkansas is moving. December 2nd was the last closing reception in this space, now home to the permanent installation of Philadelphia based artist Mariel Capanna's Little Stone, Open Home. As the name of the exhibition suggests, the home adjacent to the garage-cum-gallery is open, as it is with every show at Good Weather and as is the Riley family, who are all integral to the shows here. The home is owned by Zachary Riley, the older brother of curator/director/founder Haynes Riley. Twin brother Hunter roams through the exhibition welcoming visitors and taking photos. Mother Marilyn Riley gives hugs and introductions, and seems to have a different infant in her arms every time she is seen throughout the night, none of which belong to her or the Riley clan. Many other family members roam the suburban landscape and joyous hospitality is felt throughout. This openness is echoed in the frescoed garage, as stacked and scattered brightly painted images taken from family photo albums spread across the now fully plastered garage space.
The installation carries with it a weight, quite literally. The massive amount of plaster on the walls dampens the gleeful sounds in the space and the pressure change is just noticeable enough. It is no longer a garage, but a cavern. As new and pristine as it is, it feels old. The ancient process of fresco painting that is revived by Capanna adds another layer to the theme of this show; history. This theme renews itself in each aspect of the exhibition. The artist works from old family photos, a history of the Riley Family. She only looks at the photos for a matter of moments, then works from memory to recapture parts of the snapshot onto wet plaster before it dries, using her memory of someone else's memory to solidify them into a collective memory, all while using a system that seems to constantly keep the artist accountable for passing time. A plastic chair, a sedan, a jack-o-lantern, an ice skate; all read as a recent history, a time capsule painted into a wall that will remain for hundreds of years. As the night goes on, we learn of the extent to which frescos withstand the burden of time. Capanna explains in detail how a fresco does not chip away like a painting might. Even when covered by other layers of plaster, the fresco beneath the surface remains, quite willing and able to be uncovered at any time. This particular fresco is a work in progress. It will be worked on for years to come, as Capanna will return to the site and rework, relayer, remember. She will create her own history with the space and give that history to others as well, as she graciously allows students and other visitors to add to the mural. Little Stone, Open Home is the perfect bookend to Good Weather's first five years, and just as the installation recalls the past as it looks toward the future, I too look forward to the future of Mariel Capanna's continual fresco and to the revised incarnations of Good Weather.
BY DANNY BASKIN
GOOD WEATHER
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS | RESPONSE
DECEMBER 19, 2017
After five exceptional years of programming and over 30 solo shows within its walls, Good Weather gallery in North Little Rock, Arkansas is moving. December 2nd was the last closing reception in this space, now home to the permanent installation of Philadelphia based artist Mariel Capanna's Little Stone, Open Home. As the name of the exhibition suggests, the home adjacent to the garage-cum-gallery is open, as it is with every show at Good Weather and as is the Riley family, who are all integral to the shows here. The home is owned by Zachary Riley, the older brother of curator/director/founder Haynes Riley. Twin brother Hunter roams through the exhibition welcoming visitors and taking photos. Mother Marilyn Riley gives hugs and introductions, and seems to have a different infant in her arms every time she is seen throughout the night, none of which belong to her or the Riley clan. Many other family members roam the suburban landscape and joyous hospitality is felt throughout. This openness is echoed in the frescoed garage, as stacked and scattered brightly painted images taken from family photo albums spread across the now fully plastered garage space.
The installation carries with it a weight, quite literally. The massive amount of plaster on the walls dampens the gleeful sounds in the space and the pressure change is just noticeable enough. It is no longer a garage, but a cavern. As new and pristine as it is, it feels old. The ancient process of fresco painting that is revived by Capanna adds another layer to the theme of this show; history. This theme renews itself in each aspect of the exhibition. The artist works from old family photos, a history of the Riley Family. She only looks at the photos for a matter of moments, then works from memory to recapture parts of the snapshot onto wet plaster before it dries, using her memory of someone else's memory to solidify them into a collective memory, all while using a system that seems to constantly keep the artist accountable for passing time. A plastic chair, a sedan, a jack-o-lantern, an ice skate; all read as a recent history, a time capsule painted into a wall that will remain for hundreds of years. As the night goes on, we learn of the extent to which frescos withstand the burden of time. Capanna explains in detail how a fresco does not chip away like a painting might. Even when covered by other layers of plaster, the fresco beneath the surface remains, quite willing and able to be uncovered at any time. This particular fresco is a work in progress. It will be worked on for years to come, as Capanna will return to the site and rework, relayer, remember. She will create her own history with the space and give that history to others as well, as she graciously allows students and other visitors to add to the mural. Little Stone, Open Home is the perfect bookend to Good Weather's first five years, and just as the installation recalls the past as it looks toward the future, I too look forward to the future of Mariel Capanna's continual fresco and to the revised incarnations of Good Weather.
BY DANNY BASKIN
GOOD WEATHER
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS | RESPONSE
DECEMBER 19, 2017
After five exceptional years of programming and over 30 solo shows within its walls, Good Weather gallery in North Little Rock, Arkansas is moving. December 2nd was the last closing reception in this space, now home to the permanent installation of Philadelphia based artist Mariel Capanna's Little Stone, Open Home. As the name of the exhibition suggests, the home adjacent to the garage-cum-gallery is open, as it is with every show at Good Weather and as is the Riley family, who are all integral to the shows here. The home is owned by Zachary Riley, the older brother of curator/director/founder Haynes Riley. Twin brother Hunter roams through the exhibition welcoming visitors and taking photos. Mother Marilyn Riley gives hugs and introductions, and seems to have a different infant in her arms every time she is seen throughout the night, none of which belong to her or the Riley clan. Many other family members roam the suburban landscape and joyous hospitality is felt throughout. This openness is echoed in the frescoed garage, as stacked and scattered brightly painted images taken from family photo albums spread across the now fully plastered garage space.
The installation carries with it a weight, quite literally. The massive amount of plaster on the walls dampens the gleeful sounds in the space and the pressure change is just noticeable enough. It is no longer a garage, but a cavern. As new and pristine as it is, it feels old. The ancient process of fresco painting that is revived by Capanna adds another layer to the theme of this show; history. This theme renews itself in each aspect of the exhibition. The artist works from old family photos, a history of the Riley Family. She only looks at the photos for a matter of moments, then works from memory to recapture parts of the snapshot onto wet plaster before it dries, using her memory of someone else's memory to solidify them into a collective memory, all while using a system that seems to constantly keep the artist accountable for passing time. A plastic chair, a sedan, a jack-o-lantern, an ice skate; all read as a recent history, a time capsule painted into a wall that will remain for hundreds of years. As the night goes on, we learn of the extent to which frescos withstand the burden of time. Capanna explains in detail how a fresco does not chip away like a painting might. Even when covered by other layers of plaster, the fresco beneath the surface remains, quite willing and able to be uncovered at any time. This particular fresco is a work in progress. It will be worked on for years to come, as Capanna will return to the site and rework, relayer, remember. She will create her own history with the space and give that history to others as well, as she graciously allows students and other visitors to add to the mural. Little Stone, Open Home is the perfect bookend to Good Weather's first five years, and just as the installation recalls the past as it looks toward the future, I too look forward to the future of Mariel Capanna's continual fresco and to the revised incarnations of Good Weather.
Good Weather is a contemporary art gallery located five minutes from downtown Little Rock, Arkansas that has transformed a single-car garage into a participant-guided gallery. The project stems from an investigation of the American suburban garage and its vast flexibility. Often times, garages transcend their original function (i.e. storage for cars) by morphing into domestic galleries indicative of vastly different tastes and socio-economic conditions. This reveals an unpretentious curation of an individual’s ideas and interests: a wood shop, a miniature railroad museum, a cereal box collection, an indoor patio, a makeshift living room, an aviary, and so on. Good Weather follows this phenomenon through the understanding and use of these resources: the economy of space, a curatorial vernacular, and an open structure that allows participants to direct the content and shape of their exhibitions.
goodweathergallery.com
Mariel Capanna received a BFA from the Pennsylvania Academy in 2013. Since that time, her work has been supported by an Independence Foundation Visual Arts Fellowship, which allowed her to study fresco painting in Florence, Italy, and a grant from the Kittredge Fund, which supported a year of independent travel around the United States. She is a recipient of the Phiadelphia Mayor’s Award and the Woodmere Purchase Prize. She grew up in South Philadelphia.
Danny Baskin is an artist and curator based in Arkansas. Interested in developing spaces for communities to engage, relate, examine, and eat togetherm he founded Feast Gallery alongside Ashley Lynn Byers in 2016
dannyrwbaskin.com
All images courtesy Good Weather.
Good Weather is a contemporary art gallery located five minutes from downtown Little Rock, Arkansas that has transformed a single-car garage into a participant-guided gallery. The project stems from an investigation of the American suburban garage and its vast flexibility. Often times, garages transcend their original function (i.e. storage for cars) by morphing into domestic galleries indicative of vastly different tastes and socio-economic conditions. This reveals an unpretentious curation of an individual’s ideas and interests: a wood shop, a miniature railroad museum, a cereal box collection, an indoor patio, a makeshift living room, an aviary, and so on. Good Weather follows this phenomenon through the understanding and use of these resources: the economy of space, a curatorial vernacular, and an open structure that allows participants to direct the content and shape of their exhibitions.
goodweathergallery.com
Mariel Capanna received a BFA from the Pennsylvania Academy in 2013. Since that time, her work has been supported by an Independence Foundation Visual Arts Fellowship, which allowed her to study fresco painting in Florence, Italy, and a grant from the Kittredge Fund, which supported a year of independent travel around the United States. She is a recipient of the Phiadelphia Mayor’s Award and the Woodmere Purchase Prize. She grew up in South Philadelphia.
Danny Baskin is an artist and curator based in Arkansas. Interested in developing spaces for communities to engage, relate, examine, and eat togetherm he founded Feast Gallery alongside Ashley Lynn Byers in 2016
dannyrwbaskin.com
All images courtesy Good Weather.
RESPONSE
A feature of project reviews experienced in person. Response will provide artists with much needed critical response to their work. Response is opinion-based but is not an op-ed.