Claire Stigliani

Claire Stigliani: Half-Sick of Shadows

State Street Gallery: May 28, 2016–September 3, 2016

Opening Reception with Artist Talk, June 3, 6-9 pm

From May 28 through September 4, MMoCA will present Claire Stigliani: Half-Sick of Shadows, an exhibition featuring a new body of work by Brooklyn-based artist Claire Stigliani. Stigliani is known for her mixed-media drawings that fuse together references to fairytales, autobiography, and pop culture to interrogate contemporary notions of femininity. For her solo show at MMoCA, the artist is moving beyond the two dimensional surface of her luminous drawings by rendering them as three-dimensional, miniaturized sets, which Stigliani then uses to create stop-motion videos.

Seamlessly combining drawing, painting, sculpture, and video to present her semi-autobiographical stories, Stigliani develops each of her narrative series as interconnected, voyeuristic scenes that blur fiction and reality, and offer a glimpse into Stigliani’s half-imagined worlds. Often depicting herself within the deeply layered compositions, she becomes a reoccurring character who plays out the artist’s own struggles navigating the uncertain relationship between power and vulnerability, desire and innocence. As such, Stigliani’s work exudes an innocent authenticity while at the same time reveling in the dualities of life.     

Come to MMoCA on the first Friday in June to enjoy the opening of four new exhibitions: Claire Stigliani: Half-Sick of Shadows, Our Good Earth, Compassionate Eye: The Art of Frances Myers, and All-Licensed Fool: Animations by Allison Schulnik and Wong Ping.

Claire Stigliani will discuss her work at 6:30 pm in the lecture hall. Stigliani is known for her mixed-media drawings and paintings that fuse together references to fairytales, autobiography, and pop culture to explore contemporary notions of femininity. For her solo show at MMoCA, the artist transforms her two-dimensional paintings into three-dimensional, miniaturized puppet sets, which she then uses to create loosely narrative videos.

The evening will also feature live music from The Kissers—with a fresh, original Celtic sound—in the rooftop sculpture garden.

MMoCA Nights evenings are always free for MMoCA members/$10 for non-members.