Jeremy Caniglia Solo Exhibition Gallery 1516

My solo exhibition ‘Illuminating Dickens’ opens on Thursday, November 1st at Gallery 1516.

This exhibition features almost 50 new drawings and paintings intimately entwined in the timeless narrative of Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. The paintings were created for The Easton Press limited edition release which is now sold out. This is the first time that the public will be able to view the entire collection that I created.

You can see a PDF catalog of some of the pieces in the upcoming show at this link…

CLICK HERE FOR CATALOG INFO ON CANIGLIA'S ART

Published 175 years ago, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was an instant bestseller, followed by countless print, stage and screen productions. Dickens loved his childhood Christmases, but it was a far less happy childhood memory that initially inspired A Christmas Carol, a memory recalled by an 1843 government report on child labor. Dickens himself had at age twelve been sent to work 10-hour days in a rat-infested factory, and the report so incensed him that he resolved to publish a pamphlet protesting the exploitation of the poor. Dickens first conceived of his project as a pamphlet, which he planned on calling, “An Appeal to the People of England on behalf of the Poor Man’s Child.” But in less than a week of thinking about it, he decided instead to embody his arguments in a story, with a main character of pitiable depth.

Dickens quickly realized a story would be more effective than a polemic (rant). In October 1843 he visited Manchester, and stunned by the poverty of the world's first “industrial” city, Dickens conceived the tale of a greedy businessman transformed by an eerie Christmas Eve visitation. Six weeks later, A Christmas Carol was complete. It's rare a work of fiction that changes social traditions and even inspires people to behave better, but that is what A Christmas Carol achieved almost from the day of its publication on December 19, 1843.

Dickens story is a rare glimpse into the human condition and what birth, love and death really mean. These archetypes have been with us since the beginning of storytelling and continue as constant reminders of what life really means.

If you are in Omaha, Nebraska on November 1st please come out to the exhibition at Gallery 1516 located at 1516 Leavenworth St, Omaha, Nebraska. Doors open 6:30-9:00pm  402.305.1510

Thank you for your support,

Caniglia

Jeremy Caniglia Lecture and Workshop at Iowa State University

Jeremy Caniglia will be giving a lecture and workshop at Iowa State University on Monday April 16 from 7:00-8:30pm  

Caniglia’s lecture is titled “Into Purer Light”. The lecture will focus on his new series of work as well as the Nerdrum School and the Future of Figurative Painting. He will discuss his experience working with the figurative master Odd Nerdrum at The Nerdrum School.  The lecture will cover the current state of figurative painting and discuss where it is headed. He will also discuss his new solo exhibition “Into Purer Light” and how the paintings he created transcend time and place and push new boundaries in figurative painting.

Caniglia will also be directing a portrait drawing and still life painting workshop. The workshop will be held at Iowa State Universities College of Design on Tuesday April 17th

Caniglia’s workshop will offer painters an opportunity to compose, draw, and paint a still life or portrait using direct observation along with historical techniques and conventions. The incredible variety of available objects, materials and textures and the endless combinations in which they can be arranged, offers the contemporary painter an inexhaustible source for inspiration and study.

This event is made possible by the very gracious sponsorship of the Department of Art & Visual Culture and CODAC (College of Design Art Club

Here is a link to the lecture and workshop:

https://www.design.iastate.edu/event-listing/2018/04/into-purer-light-jeremy-caniglia-lecture/

  

Thank you,

Jacqui-Director of Caniglia-Art

Jeremy Caniglia's Quest for Caravaggio - Nec Spe Nec Metu

I spent the last 2 weeks on a quest to see the Caravaggio’s of Rome, Naples and Sicily. I took a group of students and the journey was incredible. The paths to grasping the complexity

of Caravaggio’s paintings are multiple and variable. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) chiaroscuro style, is gorgeous and stark with its dramatic angled lighting, deeply shadowed backgrounds and heart-wrenching contorted figures.

The Rome and Naples paintings are unmatched in breadth and depth. Caravaggio does what no painter before or since has been able to accomplish. The compositions are so complex but yet appear so simple. The movement of light is in a world of its own and his muted palette against vibrant hues makes flesh tones and drama explode out of the painting. It is as if the painting is alive and the sitters will start talking to you at any moment.

The most interesting phase of Caravaggio’s late career was surely the years he spent in Malta and Sicily. In 1608 Caravaggio was on the run escaping from the Maltese jail and took refuge in Syracuse. It was incredible to see these large works and especially the Burial of Saint Lucy. The painting was executed in three months in time for the December 13 celebration of St. Lucy feast day (October –December 13). He worked from live models in the Basilica of Santa Lucia al Sepolcro in the Borgata. To see the space where he worked and the lighting brings the painting full circle. A lot of experts believe he rushed it and left parts completely undone but if you see the setting in which it was painted you understand the mud of earth tones that he used was accurate and emotive.  The Sicilian works are unique on so many levels. Caravaggio was near the end and would be dead in two years. The amount of work that he finished in this time is remarkable!

As I dug deeper into his work I found a man who was flawed but sincere in his convictions. Caravaggio was grateful and loyal to his friends. He was not only a murderer but also a victim; not only a genius, not only an imperfect man with faults, but also a worthy person who understood the human condition and empathy at the deepest level. Nec Spe Nec Metu-Without Hope-Without Fear! He lived a short and violent life but what he gave in return was the reality of this imperfect world we live in.