NYAB Event - Beatrice Scaccia "The Perfect Stage"

Beatrice Scaccia "The Perfect Stage"

BOSI Contemporary

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BOSI Contemporary announces The Perfect Stage, a solo exhibition of new work by Italian born artist Beatrice Scaccia. Entitled after the narrated voice-over The Perfect Stage, the exhibition highlights self-evident contradictions in society, as well as the psychological consequences associated with urban environments. Reflecting on the social relationships we have with each other and the perceived reality of our existence, Scaccia’s work touches on the seduction of escapism. Featuring fifteen drawings, a voice-over and two video installations, Scaccia creates an imagined world that provides an androgynous character with a paradoxical shelter.

Expanding on the visual language characterized in her previous works, Scaccia demonstrates subtle changes in her aesthetic practice. Applying pencil, charcoal, oil pastel, oil, gesso and melted beeswax on paper, Scaccia blends traditional Renaissance technique with a contemporary approach to drawing. Depicting the bed as a dark and ironic playground, the double-faced drawings are brought to life with pronounced movement, splashes of Flemish red, accentuated writing, and phallic tails.

Positioned within an enclosed space, devoid of interior context with the exception of an outlined bed or small arched window, Scaccia’s faceless character is interchangeable and complex. Appearing confined to an empty room, locked in ambiguity, the character is content with the freedom allowed in this dream world. There is no need for a sexual partner or ambitious career in the solitude of this adolescent dimension. While happiness coincides with simplicity, companionship is reliant on the character’s persuasiveness. Once the character awakes from this constructed reality its unresolved existence would be that of New York City—a place where someone goes to grow up.

“I wanna put my tail between my legs and ride it for a while, hide a pillow underneath my shirt and pretend I’m a different age. I'm not a monkey, I don't need a doctor, or a mom... I just need to stay here.” – Beatrice Scaccia, The Perfect Stage (2012)

The voiceover, which accompanies the visual elements of The Perfect Stage, reads like an impromptu poem or theatric monologue inviting the viewer to participate in the humankind's perennial quest for meaningful existence. Rhetorical questions are asked with dramatic humor and angst, in which Scaccia draws her viewers into the internal struggle of her character. However, like many contemporary artists, Scaccia does not present an answer to this problem, but rather presents us with and invites us to entertain what one possible answer might look like.

“… no one wants to leave center stage. Just … make this soft bed our perfect stage... and I promise I'll keep jumping, trying hard to get younger, smaller and shorter.” – Beatrice Scaccia, The Perfect Stage (2012)