Last week I attended the opening of The Beijing Project at the Bernarducci Meisel Gallery on West 57th Street. The exhibition, which reflects an increased interest in the city following the Olympic games, is the work of photorealist painters Roberto Bernardi and Raphaella Spence.My favorite pieces of the show were both done by Spence (who, as a sidenote, is a young, gorgeous, Italian woman whose charming multi-lingual children were running all over the gallery- in short, I want her life). The paintings are large-scope scenes of Beijing, including a street scene of a bicyclist riding toward the viewer. The painting captures a city in transition, with traditional Chinese elements, European architecture, and contemporary technology painstakingly detailed on the canvas.
The second painting is of the Forbidden City, and, given its enormous scope, has unbelievable detail. The piece reminds me of the large format museum series by photographer Thomas Struth, in that it is a huge rendering of a contemporary group of ordinary patrons, in a famous cultural setting. Medieval painting, to some degree, also strove for the kind of detail Spence creates. And from the painting, I would guess that the Forbidden City is awesome- there's a basketball hoop! And two ice cream trucks!
I recommend checking out this exhibition if you're in the area. The Beijing Project showcases some really lovely work by incredibly talented artists, and is well worth seeing.
For more information on the exhibition, please visit: http://www.bernarduccimeisel.com/current/
The image is not of the painting, and is courtesy of www.wikipedia.org
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