Maria Raponi

Maria Raponi’s website

http://www.mariaraponi.com/index.html

Maria Raponi at the Künstlerhaus Dortmund

http://www.kh-do.de/en/networking/artists-in-residence-en.html

Maria Raponi, from the series re-site, 2010

During my time in Dortmund, I created a series of light-boxes featuring composite photographs of the ceilings of Künstlerhaus Dortmund’s exhibition spaces. In this site-specific work, the ceilings, which normally provide the illumination for works on view, become the focal point and take centre stage as the work in itself. This work, while directly tied to the architecture of the Künstlerhaus, provides a contemplative space for the viewer to occupy.

At first glance, the ceilings are presented from the perspective of the entrance of each of the exhibition spaces, almost as if the viewer fell to the ground upon entering the space (a viewpoint that can evoke the image of a daydream or an accident). As one looks closer, one sees that the view is from multiple points, as if looking directly up from all parts of the room simultaneously. Instead of being one photograph frozen in time, each ceiling is made up of multiple photographs taken over time, allowing for shifts in colour and light as each section was photograph. These composite images were printed onto transparences and encased in wood light-boxes, allowing their presentation to have a sculptural presence. (excerpt from artist's statement)

Maria Raponi, 1 - Künstlerhaus Dortmund (gallery space), 91 x 100 cm., digital transparency, 2010.

Maria Raponi, 3e - Künstlerhaus Dortmund (gallery space), 64 x 52 cm., digital transparency, 2010.

Maria Raponi, Installation view, re-site at Künstlerhaus Dortmund, 6 lightboxes of the ceiling of their gallery spaces presented in gallery 2, 2010.

Maria Raponi, from floor plans for storage, 2009

From July 15 to August 15, 2009, I took part in an artist project in Montreal, where 5 artists were invited to discuss and make work from the programming archives of an artist-run centre (Centre des arts actuels Skol). During its duration, the actual structures or containers intrigued me — the physical boxes holding the archive and the various architectural spaces that the centre had occupied over its history; it had moved 5 times.The piece I included in the final exhibition of our investigations was a one-to-one scale photograph compiled of all the sides (inside and outside views) of one of the programming boxes, mounted on the gallery floor. (excerpt from artist's statement)

Maria Raponi, Floor Plans for Storage: Box 1995 - 1996, 83 x 60 inches, archival digital print, 2009.