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Robert Polidori: Fra Angelico / Opus Operantis

Past exhibition
March 8 – April 14, 2018 297 Tenth Avenue, New York
  • Works
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  • Paul Kasmin Gallery is pleased to announce the debut presentation of a selection of Robert Polidori’s large-scale color photographs of the frescoes of Fra Angelico (1395-1455) contained in the Dominican priory of San Marco in Florence. The exhibition will be on view from March 8 through 14 April, 2018.
  • Installation view, Robert Polidori: Fra Angelico / Opus Operantis New York, Kasmin Gallery, March 8 – April 14, 2018 Photo by Christopher Stach (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Installation view, Robert Polidori: Fra Angelico / Opus Operantis New York, Kasmin Gallery, March 8 – April 14, 2018 Photo by Christopher Stach (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Installation view, Robert Polidori: Fra Angelico / Opus Operantis New York, Kasmin Gallery, March 8 – April 14, 2018 Photo by Christopher Stach (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Installation view, Robert Polidori: Fra Angelico / Opus Operantis New York, Kasmin Gallery, March 8 – April 14, 2018 Photo by Christopher Stach (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Installation view, Robert Polidori: Fra Angelico / Opus Operantis New York, Kasmin Gallery, March 8 – April 14, 2018 Photo by Christopher Stach (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
  • In the canon of art history, these works, executed in the birthplace of the Renaissance, give us a full sense of the period’s renewed commitment to the life of the spirit. Polidori visited the Convento di San Marco several times over the course of 2010 to capture the solemnity and sheer force of the frescoes and their reflection, through the depiction of the life of Christ, of the universal condition of mankind.

    The frescoes, painted by Fra Angelico between 1439 and 1444 for purposes of devotion and contemplation, extend beyond literal storytelling. They shift into the metaphysical realm, bringing the viewer into contact with the incidents of the life of Christ in the context of a newborn psychological and subjective interpretation. In this altered manner of worship lies the root of the changes in faith and understanding that were to follow during the span of the reawakening that we know as the Renaissance.

    As in much of the artist’s previous work, including photographs taken in Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Iran and India, and in particular his work in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, Polidori is exploring a closely observed subject: the situation of humanity in the face of the overwhelming power of nature and time and a search for the universal.

    The invitation to photograph the frescoes within the Convento di San Marco, as well as the building itself (renovated at the time of Fra Angelico by the patron of the Dominican order, Cosimo de Medici) was a fitting project for Polidori, who believes that rooms act as vessels of memory. Since the 1980s, he has been involved in an ongoing study of the decades-long restoration of the Chateau de Versailles and had previously turned his eye on war-torn Beirut, the devastated landscape of New Orleans and the faded splendor of Havana. By capturing scenes of wreckage, restoration and grandeur uninhabited by human figures, Polidori brings us into communication with the echoes of history that resonate in architecture. These works evoke the inexorable forward thrust of time and its power to reduce people, buildings and civilizations to dust and ruin.

     

     

  • Works
    • Robert Polidori, Crucifixion with the Virgin and Sts Cosmas, John the Evangelist and Peter Martyr by Fra Angelico #2, Cell 38, Museum of San Marco Convent, Florence, Italy, 2010
      Robert Polidori, Crucifixion with the Virgin and Sts Cosmas, John the Evangelist and Peter Martyr by Fra Angelico #2, Cell 38, Museum of San Marco Convent, Florence, Italy, 2010
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    • Robert Polidori, Annunciation by Fra Angelico, Cell 3, Museum of San Marco Convent, Florence, Italy, 2010
      Robert Polidori, Annunciation by Fra Angelico, Cell 3, Museum of San Marco Convent, Florence, Italy, 2010
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      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3E%3Cstrong%3ERobert%20Polidori%3C/strong%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cem%3EAnnunciation%20by%20Fra%20Angelico%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3ECell%203%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3EMuseum%20of%20San%20Marco%20Convent%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3EFlorence%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3EItaly%3C/em%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E2010%3C/span%3E
    • Robert Polidori, The Capture of Christ by Fra Angelico, Cell 33, Museum of San Marco Convent, Florence, Italy, 2010
      Robert Polidori, The Capture of Christ by Fra Angelico, Cell 33, Museum of San Marco Convent, Florence, Italy, 2010
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      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3ERobert%20Polidori%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3EThe%20Capture%20of%20Christ%20by%20Fra%20Angelico%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3ECell%2033%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3EMuseum%20of%20San%20Marco%20Convent%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3EFlorence%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3EItaly%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2010%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
    • Robert Polidori, The Last Supper, or Communion of the Apostles by Fra Angelico, Cell 35, Museum of San Marco Convent, Florence, Italy, 2010
      Robert Polidori, The Last Supper, or Communion of the Apostles by Fra Angelico, Cell 35, Museum of San Marco Convent, Florence, Italy, 2010
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      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3ERobert%20Polidori%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3EThe%20Last%20Supper%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3Eor%20Communion%20of%20the%20Apostles%20by%20Fra%20Angelico%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3ECell%2035%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3EMuseum%20of%20San%20Marco%20Convent%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3EFlorence%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3EItaly%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2010%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
    • Robert Polidori, Adoration of the Magi and Man of Sorrows by Fra Angelico, Cell 39, Museum of San Marco Convent, Florence, Italy, 2010
      Robert Polidori, Adoration of the Magi and Man of Sorrows by Fra Angelico, Cell 39, Museum of San Marco Convent, Florence, Italy, 2010
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      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3ERobert%20Polidori%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3EAdoration%20of%20the%20Magi%20and%20Man%20of%20Sorrows%20by%20Fra%20Angelico%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3ECell%2039%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3EMuseum%20of%20San%20Marco%20Convent%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3EFlorence%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3EItaly%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2010%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
    • Robert Polidori, Crucifixion with the Virgin and Sts Cosmas, John the Evangelist and Peter Martyr by Fra Angelico, Cell 38 (foreground), Adoration of the Magi and Man of Sorrows, by Fra Angelico, Cell 39 (background) Museum of San Marco Convent, Florence, Italy, 2010
      Robert Polidori, Crucifixion with the Virgin and Sts Cosmas, John the Evangelist and Peter Martyr by Fra Angelico, Cell 38 (foreground), Adoration of the Magi and Man of Sorrows, by Fra Angelico, Cell 39 (background) Museum of San Marco Convent, Florence, Italy, 2010
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      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3ERobert%20Polidori%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3ECrucifixion%20with%20the%20Virgin%20and%20Sts%20Cosmas%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3EJohn%20the%20Evangelist%20and%20Peter%20Martyr%20by%20Fra%20Angelico%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3ECell%2038%20%28foreground%29%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3EAdoration%20of%20the%20Magi%20and%20Man%20of%20Sorrows%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3Eby%20Fra%20Angelico%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3ECell%2039%20%28background%29%20Museum%20of%20San%20Marco%20Convent%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3EFlorence%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3EItaly%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2010%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
  • News
    • Robert Polidori featured in AnOther Magazine

      Robert Polidori featured in AnOther Magazine

      by Daisy Woodward March 19, 2018
      Canadian-American photographer Robert Polidori has devoted much of his esteemed career to exploring the effects of time, nature and human intervention on buildings and landscapes....
      View More
  • About the Artist

    Robert Polidori

    Robert Polidori

    Robert Polidori is a widely acclaimed photographer, most immediately recognized for his career-spanning work at the Château de Versailles, as well as his photographs of the fading grandeur of Havana and the devastating destruction of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. His “Dendritic Cities” captures the rampant and spectacular growth that has appeared in the last decades in cities such as Amman, Mumbai and Rio de Janeiro. Photographs from Hotel Petra illustrate how human interventions and the passing of time are inscribed on the surfaces of walls, and the rooms themselves bear witness to their history. His most recent photographs from the Convento di San Marco in Florence capture the solemnity and sheer force of the 15th Century frescos by Fra Angelico. 


    Learn More

  • Explore

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