In the world of Laurina Paperina, comic book characters and super heroes take on a more human folksy feel: over 100 works including drawings, paintings, a wall installation and an original animation. In the project space, Joseph Hart will present a series of collage-based drawings.
Laurina Paperina / Joseph Hart
In the world of Laurina Paperina, comic book characters and super heroes take on a more human folksy feel
– wrinkles appear beneath Spiderman’s mask and Robin’s beer belly hangs slightly over his green tights.
The manner in which Paperina portrays these fictitious personalities and parodied celebrities draws parallel
to the ordinary among us. In keeping with the fantastic characters she creates, the artist has adopted the
pseudonym Laurina Paperina (her real name is Laura Scottini). Through her lo-fi paintings and drawings with witty one-liners, Paperina’s interpretations of the social and political ramifications of television and the internet come to life. Her subjects are presented simply but powerfully, incorporating a vivid cartoon-like palate, ultimately reducing them to their most familiar and accessible characteristics. This is an effective strategy given our internet age of increasingly short attention
spans. In the video game world of good and evil, Laurina Paperina is a welcome hero, liberating us with
humor from our phobias, foibles and fallacies. Where instant gratification is valued over personal
relationships, Paperina encourages us to be honest and vulnerable.
For Paperina’s first solo exhibition in the United States, ro(t)fl (internet slang for rolling on the floor laughing)
the artist takes us through an ironic journey of heroes and villains, celebrities, and other pop culture figures.
With over 100 works including drawings, paintings, a wall installation and an original animation, we are
reintroduced to characters that we have known and loved for years, and meet an entire cast of new ones.
“Rolling on the floor laughing” is Paperina’s opportunity to remind us not to take ourselves so seriously. Likewise, Paparina’s direct approach pokes fun at the grandiosity elitism of the art word itself.
Laurina Paperina was born in Roverto Italy. She currently lives and works between Mori (Trento-Italy) and
Duck Land. Her solo exhibitions include Erdmann Contemporary Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa; Perugi
artecontemporanea, Padova, Italy; Che fine ha fatto, Rovigo, Italy.
In the project space, Joseph Hart will present a series of collage-based drawings. Hart’s wistful compositions
generated with pencil, pen and paint, are reminiscent of Baroque landscapes and nod to other art historical
works. For Priority Index, Hart has taken his cue from several trips to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where
display cases, pedestals, frames, mantels, and other exhibition fixtures serve as anchors within the
composition as well as metaphors for value, triage and importance. He further investigates belief and value
systems, and how these ideologies relate to faith, human capacity, and mythology.
Born and raised in New Hampshire, Joseph Hart studied at Rhode Island School of Design before moving to
Brooklyn, where he currently lives and works. His first solo exhibition at Galleri Loyal in Sweden was
preceded by several group exhibitions at Alexander and Bonin, CRG Gallery, New York; Klaus Von
Nichtssangend, Brooklyn; Allston Skirt Gallery, Boston, MA. Hart’s forthcoming project AIM 27 at the Bronx
Museum of The Arts, New York opens this April.
Opening: Saturday, February 24, 6:00PM - 8:00PM
Freight + Volume
542 West 24th Street - New York
Free admission