Antonella Mason
Antonella Mason (April 23, 1964 – ) is a figurative and abstract artist who paints in a variety of mediums. She was born in Mogliano Veneto, Italy in 1964. Mason has exhibited since 1994 in Europe and the Americas.
Fine Art Studies and Career
Florentine artist Elio Bargagni mentored Antonella Mason in watercolor at an early age. Her first exhibits were in the Veneto region, starting in 1994. Mason has exhibited consistently in group and solo exhibitions since 1994.
In 1992 Mason attended courses at the Scuola Libera del Nudo (Free school of the Nude) at the Academy of Fine Arts, Venice.
In 1994 Antonella was accepted into the International Graphics School in Venice. Antonella Mason continued her studies with Matteo Cosenza in Treviso and with Andreas Kramer in Berlin, Germany.
Antonella Mason traveled to the United States in 2000 to study at the Art Students League of New York in New York City. It was there that she was taught by the painter Peter Cox on the study of Light and Light sources.
In 2006, she moved to New York City and would remain there for the next 10 years. That same year she had a solo show at Synchronicity gallery in Manhattan.
In 2007, she began studies in Fine Art at Queens College, City University of New York, graduating Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2011. Upon graduation, Antonella received the Queens College Art Department's "Highest Honors in Studio Art" award.
In 2014 Mason returned to exhibit in Italy with a show titled “Two out of a Thousand” at Open Gallery, curated by Doctor Chiara Casarin, curator, journalist and former director of Museo Civico di Bassano, Treviso.
In 2015, Mason taught a series of creative workshops at Technovium in Nijmegen, in the Limburg province of The Netherlands, on Colourist painting and Luminism (American art style).
In 2016, Mason had a solo show at Villa Giovannina in Villorba, Treviso, Italy, titled “From Becoming to Vertically” where she held a public lecture on Conscious and Unconscious connection while painting the original work “Genesis”, acrylic paint on canvas.
After several group and solo shows, in 2017 Mason had her first solo museum show “Vertically Third Dimension” at Sala della Ragione, Museo di Asolo in Asolo, Italy. She also had a solo show at Talenti Gallery, in Portobuffolé, Treviso.
In 2018 she exhibited in Trieste, Italy at Sala Comunale d’Arte in Piazza Unità d'Italia, where she presented her installation piece “Diary of the Third Dimension: Relationship between Conscious and Unconscious 364 days+1”.
Influences
Her early portraiture was focused on the study of human features and expressions as human ethology inspired by the study of art history portrait painting and drawing, most notably: Caravaggio, Francis Bacon, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Paul Gauguin.
Art - Mind and Conscious - Unconscious Connection
Her works for Vertically became a launching pad for her dialogue with the infinite, which caught the interest of neuroscientist Dr. James Stellar with whom she would begin a scientific-intellectual dialogue, initially published as an article in his blog The Other Lobe of The Brain, then, in his book "Education That Works".
Since 2009 it became a science and fine art collaboration on the connection between heart and mind on the subject. Mason and Stellar wrote the essay "Conversation between the Artist and the Neuroscientist" which was published on the artist monograph, titled From Becoming to Vertically, curated by Elsa Dezuanni, edited by Antiga; this work would pave the way towards “three-dimensional concepts”, namely a vision in constant change, which Dezuanni defines as “the evolution of being”. Moreover, Dezuanni, in her other retrospective monograph about Mason, further discusses the artist’s journey from early times to the search and discovery of an inner personal dimension.
Conceptual Themes and Notable Works
Mason's work touches upon several conceptual themes that center on the search for inner freedom, a fullness of spirit, and the simple and profound inspiration to understand existence.
Portraits
“Becoming” Concept
Becoming project which speaks about the personal struggle which the artist experienced until her arrival to United States, comprehends a series of work in etching, painting and sculpture which most relevant are:
- The City and I, 2008, drypoint 20 x 13 in each of the four works
- Becoming, 2008, acrylic on canvas and mixed media 23 x 17 x 9 in
- A Moment in Time, 2009, acrylic on canvas 31 x 98 in
- My Heart in My Throat, 2009, litograph 19 x 13 in
- Becoming X, 2009, litographs and mono-prints installation of 25 pieces 114 ¼ x 70 ¾ in
Becoming Notable Work
“The Woman of a Thousand Worlds” Concept
The Woman of Thousand Worlds project sees only three works on canvas but includes a whole idea of universal belonging. The tryptic is highly autobiographical and depicts the will to be part of the Universe while keeping tight to our roots and traditions.
The three works are the following:
- The Woman of Thousand Worlds, 2013, acrylic on canvas 40 x 30 in
- The Falling, 2013, acrylic on canvas 36 x 12 in
- The Raising, 2013, acrylic on canvas 40 x 30 in
“Vertically” Concept
Mason's body of work for "Vertically” started in 2013. Its theme is a visual conversation of physical and nonphysical space. The intention to inspire an inner and potentially outer conversation, investigating the experience of an internal self-detachment together with the soul's hunger for belonging.
Mason writes: “This is our search for ‘place being’: it is vertical, rooted and dug; however, it is also projected through becoming. The discourse on ‘verticality’ strives to investigate the layers underneath the physical structured idea of how we represent standing, a bolted upright visual object. The erectness can cut, on a feeling level, into our existence, enduring and generating all sorts of emotional outcomes and reflections. As a result, an internal kind of ‘Limbo’ can arise. At first, it can generate a sense of loss, but after, it creates a place of inmost self-development. In other words, ‘Limbo’ is a place where getting lost becomes a search for finding who we are, and in doing so, looks at the external world with different eyes and a different heart.”
Vertically Notable Work
“Third Dimension” Concept
Mason’s "Third Dimension" concept is a vision in constant change, the complementary nature of heart and mind not being able to separate emotional flow from intellectual processing, a dialogue with the infinite, her "Third Dimension" concept emanated from "Vertically", starting in 2016.
Mason writes about “Third Dimension”,”Humankind finds its equilibrium while looking for a point of connection from where to re-establish relationships on a more developed and constructive way, to understand better, accept better, and better relate. It is also personal, based on the experience of the individual, without rules. However, if we perceive that our conscious decision-making is connected to the unconscious, we realize that we are not using our whole potential because we are not aware of it, which is common for most of us. I believe we can find a balance where we have the chance to understand that our mind and heart are coexisting and on continue mutation, generating constant opportunities for humanity enrichment and communication: that is Third Dimension”.
Third Dimension Notable Work
In 2017, Mason began a year-long work titled “Diary of the Third Dimension”, a gestural painting generated by a spontaneous impulse, narrating a daily “one moment feeling” in the year 2017. The choice of colors has precise attitudes: blue represents the conscious and red unconscious; dialogues with their complementary and secondary, on a background of yellow, gold and red pigments that emphasize the precious place of “Third Dimension”, or the place where conscious and unconscious coexist in a state of creativity that in itself is already a response to every possible question. The work is comprised of two installations. One piece is made up of 364 small paintings that refer to a painting a day for each day of the year. The second piece is the 365th day developed on its own for April 23rd, the artist’s birth date, and it expands as a vertical mini-installation of 24 small pieces that represent the conscious and unconscious relationship for each hour of that day of the year, individually painted within each hour.
Awards
2011 Highest Honors in Studio Art – Queens College City University of New York, New York City, New York, USA
2009 Academic Outstanding Award from Queens College CUNY – Institute of Italian Culture, New York City, New York, USA
2007 Merit Award 21st Century Art -Generation X- Online Juried Exhibition ‘Gallery without walls’
2007 Best in Painting, Manhattan Arts International 24th Anniversary Juried Online Exhibition, New York City, New York, USA
1995 Selected Artist, Collettiva Pittori Veneti – Veneto, Italy
1994 Second Place, Caruso Art – Venice, Italy
1994 First Place, Colorno Art Competition, Parma, Italy
1993 Award, Ciardi Competition Quinto, Treviso, Italy
1993 Enrolled at Young Artists Club of Venice, Venice, Italy
Solo Exhibitions
2019 Diary of the Third Dimension. Relationship between Conscious and Unconscious 364days+1. Palazzo Rota Ivancich, Venice, Italy
2018 Diary of the Third Dimension. Relationship between Conscious and Unconscious 364days+1. Sala Comunale d’Arte, Trieste, Italy
2017 Vertically, Terza Dimensione Civic Museum, Sala della Ragione, Asolo, Italy
2017 Vertically, Talenti Gallery Portobuffole’, Treviso, Italy
2016 From Becoming to Vertically, Villa Giovannina Villorba, Treviso. Italy
2016 The Artist Tells Herself, Murano Inn Porto Piccolo, Sistiana, Italy
2015 Two Artists Show, De Bakkerij Art House, Bergen, Netherlands
2014 Spazio, Open Bevacqua Panigai, Treviso, Italy
2008 Synchronicity, Fine Art Gallery, New York, USA
2004 Crema, Annual Artist Expo, Treviso, Italy
2002 Villa Bembo, Casale sul Sile, Italy
2001 Centro d’Arte e Cultura Brolo, Mogliano Veneto, Italy
1998 Rassegna Artisti Caffe’ Grande, Venice, Italy
1997 Rassegna Pittura La Barchessa, Casale sul Sile, Italy
1994 Nilo Blu, Treviso, Italy
1994 Rassegna Pittori Piola, Treviso, Italy
1994 Palm Beach resort, Jesolo, Italy
1993 Bissuola Art Mestre, Venice, Italy
1993 Centro Sociale Mogliano, Veneto, Italy
Group Exhibitions
2016 Cinema in Art, Mazzoleni Gallery, Venice, Sacca Sessola, Italy
2016 Farini Gallery Bologna Italy
2016 Avantgarde Merlino’s Gallery Bottega d’Arte, Florence, Italy
2014 Varini Clinic Foundation, Orselina, Locarno, Switzerland
2013 artBrescia International Contemporary Art Biennale, Brescia, Italy
2011 International Contemporary Art Expo, Castel Dell’Arte, Castel Dell’Ovo, Naples, Italy
2011 artBrescia International Contemporary Art Biennale, Mazzucchelli Museums, Brescia, Italy
2011 Got Art?, Queens College, Queens, New York
2009 Art for Abruzzo, Abate Zanetti Glass School, Murano, Venice, Italy
2009 Art for Abruzzo, Institute of Italian Culture, London, UK
2008 St. John’s University Exhibition, Syosset Library, Syosset, New York, USA
2008 Galeria De Arte, Gaudi’, Madrid, Spain
2008 Sun Yat Sen Gallery, Queens, New York City, New York, USA
2007 Manhattan Arts Gallery, 24th Anniversary Online Exhibition, New York, NY, USA
2003 Miromesnil Gallery, Paris, France 1997 Castle of Roncade, Treviso, Italy
1997 Centro d’Arte, La Staffa, Treviso, Italy
1996 Collettiva Piranesi, Centro Arte Trevisan, Treviso, Italy
1995 Scuola Internazionale di Grafica, Venice, Italy
1995 Böhlen Summer School, Böhlen, Germany
1995 S. Leonardo Gallery, Nuova Figurazione Art Group, Treviso, Italy
1995 Centro Culturale Astori Collettiva Giovani Pittori Veneti, Mogliano Veneto, Treviso, Italy
1994 Pittura in collettiva, Bonisiolo, Treviso, Italy
1994 Centro Culturale Astori Collettiva 10 Pittori Veneti, Mogliano Veneto, Treviso, Italy
1993 Centro D’Arte e Cultura Collettiva, Nuova Figurazione Roncade, Treviso, Italy
1992 Collettiva D’Arte, Nuova Figurazione Group Biancade, Treviso, Italy
Press and Mentions
Author Sarah Paretsky mentions Antonella Mason in her fiction crime novel “Hardball” and references her work as “ Or that Antonella Mason acrylic Morrel and I found on a side trip to Treviso.’ on page 25...[1]
Author Margaret Kinsman mentions Antonella Mason in her biography “Sara Paretsky: A Companion to the Mistery Fiction”[2]
Author James Stellar mentions Antonella Mason in his book “Education that Works” on page 70[3]
External Links
References
Antonella Mason. From Becoming to Vertically[4]. Antiga Ed. Curated by Elsa Dezuanni 2016. 120 pages; ISBN 978-88-99657-51-2
The monograph, curated by Elsa Dezuanni, presents the most recent art production of Antonella Mason, and illustrates all the worlds visited by the artist, those of the written and painted image, which is the word in painting. The book also contains her reported speech dialogue with Dr. James Stellar, a neuroscientist and the current President at SUNY's Albany University in New York.
Writings: Patrizio Rigobon, Ennio Pouchard, James Stellar.
Notes
- ↑ Paretsky, Sara (2010-02-18). Hardball: V.I. Warshawski 13. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 9781848946743. Search this book on
- ↑ Kinsman, Margaret (2016-10-03). Sara Paretsky: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction. McFarland. ISBN 9781476625690. Search this book on
- ↑ Stellar, James. "Education that Works". www.amazon.com. ISBN 9781940858210. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
- ↑ Dezuanni, Elsa. "Antonella Mason. From Becoming to Vertically • Antiga Edizioni". www.antigaedizioni.it. ISBN 9788899657512. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
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