Artist’s Statement:
The first painting is of Plato’s cave, where shadows are compared to our pale perception of reality. The second painting depicts Icarus as a fluctuating shape without human features flying freely to the sun, illuminating the grandeur of that which tempts him to death. Representing these two extreme experiences in my paintings, I offer a new lens of perceiving the actual world; a world where we shift from the position of the chained prisoners fed up by a society distorted by social media and aggressive politics, to the bold Icarus, who, blinded by arrogance, burns himself to death trying to reach the powerful Sun. Absolute freedom is an illusion, much like the chains that restrain our knowledge. It is up to us to find a balance between these two extremes to reach clarity in our lives.
Bio:
Antonella Manganelli moved to the U.S. in 1999 from Italy. Through her art, she depicts a surreal vision of the world and its history. Her interest is to communicate her understanding and evolution as a human beinge, sharing her vision through artwork and collaborating with other artists and people who come across her journey. She believes in the power of Nature as an great ancient healer and seeks to discover symbols and messages to decode the indecipherable language that Nature whispers to us.
Manganelli has exhibited her art throughout Italy in Naples, Rome, and Milan, and in the U.S. in Northern VA, Maryland, and North Carolina.
Donation Appeal:
Throughout June and July, we will be presenting on this web site work by poets and artists responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope you will find these works relevant, comforting and inspiring as we all cope with the economic and health-related fallout.
As you view the work on this site each day, we would like to encourage you to donate to the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC). Their mission “ is to feed our neighbors in need by providing dignified access to supplemental groceries. AFAC is seeing a record number of families due to the COVID-19 pandemic as families who never thought they would ever be in need are now showing up at our doors for much needed food.” And, in keeping with our hunger-focused efforts, you may also want to visit the Poetry X Hunger website where poems by many poets are posted and are being used by anti-hunger organizations.”
Please consider donating to AFAC. If you do, let us know which poet or artist inspired you so we can send you a personal thank you.
If you send a donation, please let us know.
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And thank you for your visit and your generosity.
