TV Dinner, Maurizio Cannavacciuolo
A site-specific wall drawing

March 10, 2004 – August 15, 2004

Maurizio Cannavacciuolo is a nomad. Although he lives in perpetual and voluntary exile, he is first and foremost a citizen of Naples, the ancient South Italian city that has been a bedrock for artists for centuries. Rich in historically diverse layers of cultures, Naples has given Maurizio his multiple fields of reference and inspired his stylistic diversity. Cannavacciuolo is deeply aware of the cultural dichotomy of North vs South, East vs West. His extensive travels have led him to study, live and explore the Far East and most especially India and Thailand. He is a cosmopolitan, transcultural soul — part painter, part architect, part philosopher, part writer. He is a critical observer who is blessed with an acute sense of the absurd.

Cannavacciuolo began his residency at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in the fall of 2003. At that time he spent many hours with the collection and in the museum archives, exploring Isabella Stewart Gardner's rare book collection as well as her personal travel scrapbooks and guest books. Items of particular interest to him were photographed and set aside. He then returned to the museum in February 2004 and spent five weeks creating an elaborate two-part wall drawing in the special exhibition gallery.

Working methodically every day, Cannavacciuolo and four assistants (April Gymiski, Annabelle Lee, Lazaro Montano, and Beth Olsen) created this site-specific work literally before the very eyes of museum visitors, who were able to view the process through a window built into the gallery door. Slides of specially selected images — drawn from the artist’s experiences at the Gardner and the personal imagery he has developed throughout many years — were projected and traced by hand onto the walls.
TV Dinner includes images of Cannavacciuolo’s own early paintings from the 80's and 90's as well as images of everyday life and popular culture that he has been collecting for years. The artist weaves together photographs of his native Italy and his travels to Cuba, advertisements, and comic strips by Stan Lee, the creator of Spiderman. These he diligently combined with images he had previously obtained from the museum archives. The resulting multi-layered drawing is a juxtaposition of carefully crafted pictures, culled from his personal world and that of the museum's founder. Each image leads you to the next in a parade of elements. Through this tapestry of images, overcharged with imagination, a
subversive Cannavacciuolo delivers a witty commentary on socially controversial subjects. The result is a brilliant juggling act between cultural triviality, emotion, and beauty.
TV Dinner is about privileging a very human act: the act of choice. The viewer can choose to engage with the work in the special exhibition gallery, or not. To engage will mean patiently exploring the two-part wall drawing. As you look beyond the bold primary wall colors and allow your eye to grow accustomed to the lighting, the delicate web of images will slowly come into focus. You will discover much about the eye and the mind of Maurizio Cannavacciuolo. Untangling the thread and finding a satisfying narrative will be each viewer's personal adventure.