Press
Claph Magazine
By Ellinor Stigle
http://issuu.com/claphmagazine/docs/claph_issue_7_2012
A.I.R. - Marco Dianese
By Ellinor Stigle
It’s an ice cold December day in New York. Frost cradle the sidewalks and travel up the walls of the buildings and ill dressed tourists hustle to find a warm seat inside. Marco welcomes at the door. If the restaurant itself won’t warm you up, the mere sight of Dianese will. With velvet brown eyes and a smile that could melt an iceberg, the man I meet is a far cry from the tortured artist.
Born and raised in Venice, Italy, Marco Dianese grew up with a passion for art and music. After living in Texas where he enjoyed painting large scale oil paintings he struggled to adapt to the smaller studio spaces in New York where he eventually found his way into the more convenient digital medium.
We are meeting at the location of his last show ‘The Cherry On The Cake’ where the subject matter is colorful images of cookies, cupcakes, jelly puddings and desserts. It’s a holiday dream.
Full of life and charisma Marco tells me how his passion for cooking inspired him to photograph the colorful and eye pleasing food he loves to prepare, and digitally turn them into the highly stylized art work on display in the restaurant. The subject matter is also why the venue, a popular Nolita staple, made perfect sense.
Marco’s show just opened on Saturday and while the holiday season usually keep most New Yorker’s calendars at capacity, the opening was packed and part of the show is already sold out.
We make our way through the small rooms where Marco’s pieces adorn the walls and I can see how irresistible his pieces must seem to anyone with an affinity to sweets.
As we bid good bye in the street outside Marco turns to me, smile and say,
- Salty is next.
Marco Dianese’s show ‘The Cherry On The Cake’ is currently on view at Bread Nolita.
Marco Dianese is “The Icing on The Cake”
by Rosanna Boraso
After many years spent on compositional and color studies focused on the aesthetics of Minimal Art, diverse parallel studies of technique and experimentation with materials (a uniquely eclectic mix created by Marco with a collage of cooking courses, meditation, weaving, knitting, screen printing, sewing, and more) and his persistent discussions with artist friends, Marco Dianese has arrived at a concept, better than previous incarnations, which exemplifies and expresses his personality.
His creative drive, like that of many contemporary artists, is inspired by the need to combine the common experience of daily life with aesthetics, and by the identification of key shared social experiences that throughout history and different populations have transformed a simple act of survival into a cultural occasion.
As the subject of this artistic exploration Marco has chosen food. But not just any food…
One of Marco’s goals in this exhibit is clearly to spread “beauty” and evoke “pleasure”; Pleasure and beauty from an intimate, strictly private moment and from a personal perspective (in terms of the eye and palate of the beholder), that become a moment of shared indulgence and enjoyment.
Here then is “comfort food”.
Marco’s roots as an Italian “foodie” and gourmet, his long residence in the United States and decades of work in the realm of the legendary “espresso”, have enabled Marco to acquire considerable culinary expertise and knowledge of the world of “taste”, but not only…! By experiencing different worlds, he has had the opportunity to study people’s behaviors and desires and understood that, both in the home and in dining establishments, what people look for in a cup of coffee or in a slice of cake is comfort that goes far beyond the caffeine boost or “recharge” quality.
The choice of specific traditional beverages and sweets, their preparation, subsequent presentation, their enjoyable consumption with friends, the photographic representation printed on various materials along with the recipe with instructions for how to achieve perfection, constitute Marco Dianese’s artistic expression and work.
The “Chocolate Cake”, “Pound Cake”, “Cookies”, “Rainbow Cake”, “Red Velvet Cupcakes”, “Marmalade”, “Panna Cotta”, “Perfect Cup of Tea”, “Pudding” are some of the works made to date. Limited edition prints on paper and single vinyl prints are the result of research and painstaking work where perfection, though not always achieved, is sought with the same dedication reserved for the preparation of food.
Marco Dianese’s art is therefore a purposeful act of love, an inspiration to share pleasure, do something nice for yourself and others, promote self-confidence, and discover the joy of a job well done even when it is something that’s taken for granted, such as the preparation of food.
Marco’s work is not merely “illustrated recipes”, but much, much more. Anyone who has the opportunity to participate in his “performances” or visit his exhibitions definitely finds all of their five senses touched by his work, and in the end can carry this enjoyment and pleasure with them as they relive and reproduce what they tasted and experienced.
In conclusion, I want to tell you that in this topsy-turvy world in which we live, where it seems almost obligatory for people to think only of themselves, Marco Dianese is truly, in the original sense of the expression, “the icing on the cake.”
Rosanna Boraso - Venice, Italy - December 4, 2011.
Translation by Diana Candida.
Marco Dianese è “The Cherry on The Cake”
di Rosanna Boraso
Dopo anni di ricerche compositive e cromatiche incentrate sull’estetica della Minimal Art, paralleli svariati studi di formazione tecnica e sperimentazioni di materiali (una formazione eclettica la sua, un collage di corsi di cucina, meditazione, tessitura, maglieria, serigrafia, cucito, ecc.) e il continuo, assiduo confronto/discussione con gli amici artisti, Marco Dianese è arrivato a una sorta di sintesi formale che, meglio della produzione precedente, esprime la sua personalità.
La sua pulsione creativa, come quella di molti artisti contemporanei, parte dall’esigenza di coniugare l’esperienza del comune quotidiano con quella estetica, e dall’individuazione di principali esperienze sociali condivise che nella storia e nei popoli hanno trasformato un semplice atto di sopravvivenza in momento culturale.<P>
Come soggetto di questa esplorazione artistica Marco ha scelto il cibo. Non però un cibo qualunque.
Uno degli obiettivi di Marco, in questa produzione, è palesemente quello di distribuire “bellezza” e suscitare “piacere”, un piacere e una bellezza che da momento intimo, strettamente privato e dato dagli occhi e dal palato personale, diventano momento di godimento culturale condiviso.
Ecco dunque di scena il “cibo relax”.
La sua origine di “gourmet” italiano, la lunga residenza negli Stati Uniti d’America e il pluridecennale lavoro nel mondo del commercio del mitico “caffè espresso”, hanno permesso a Marco di mettere insieme competenze culinarie e notevoli conoscenze del mondo del “gusto”, ma non solo, tramite il contatto con le diverse realtà, lui ha soprattutto potuto studiare i comportamenti e i desideri delle persone e capito che, in casa o nei locali pubblici, la gente cerca in una tazzina di caffè o in una fetta di torta, conforti che vanno ben oltre alla “ricarica energetica”.
La scelta delle ricette di dolci e bevande, individuate fra quelle della tradizione, la loro preparazione personale, la successiva presentazione, la degustazione insieme ad altri del “dessert”, la rappresentazione tramite foto stampate su vari materiali di supporto e contenenti la ricetta utile a una preparazione “perfetta”, costituiscono l’attuale produzione artistica di Marco Dianese.
La “Chocolate Cake”, la “Pound Cake”, i “Cookies”, la “Raimbow Cake”, i “Red Velvet Cup Cake”, la “Marco Orange Marmalade”, la “Panna Cotta”, ”The Perfect Cup of Tea”, il “Budino”, sono alcuni dei lavori sinora realizzati. Le stampe prodotte, su carta i multipli e vinile i pezzi unici, sono frutto di una ricerca e un lavoro minuzioso dove la perfezione, anche se non sempre ottenuta come desiderato, viene ricercata con l’estrema dedizione riservata anche alla preparazione dei cibi.
Il lavoro di Marco Dianese è dunque un propositivo atto d’affetto, uno stimolo alla condivisione del piacere, al fare qualcosa di bello per se stessi e per gli altri, a promuovere la fiducia in se stessi, a scoprire l’incanto del lavoro ben fatto anche quando l’azione è volta ad un atto apparentemente scontato come la preparazione del cibo.
Quelle di Marco non sono dunque mere “ricette illustrate”, ma molto, molto di più, chiunque ha la fortuna di partecipare alle sue “performances” o di visitare le sue mostre, entra decisamente in contatto con tutti i cinque sensi nella sua opera e, alla fine, può continuare la catena del piacere a casa propria riproducendo quanto gustato.
Alla fine perciò lasciatemelo dire, nel mondo a catafascio in cui stiamo vivendo, dove parrebbe obbligatorio pensare solo a se stessi, Marco Dianese è proprio, nell’originario senso del piacere massimo, la nostra “ciliegina sulla torta”.
Rosanna Boraso, Venezia, 4 Dicembre 2011
