NORA MACERATESI

“My challenge,” Nora Maceratesi says, “is to install a simple story in an urban landscape.” In her paintings, the artist focuses on spaces that normally escape our attention, giving bridges, roads, and passageways a life of their own. Working in oils and mixed media on canvas, the artist captures the city’s energy in her images, but she also finds the quiet center in each scene. The results recall the photographs of Atget or Abbott, their sharp compositions combined with a sense of open space that gives the viewer the hint of a story but leaves room for many interpretations.

Maceratesi uses a palette based on grays and earth colors in her paintings, but her skill at creating subtle effects of light and shadow, as well as the textural variety she employs, lets that range of colors assume many forms. From the softness of a cloudy sky to the intricate details of city buildings, her works bring all the elements of the urban environment into play, while letting them also come together as a representation of the artist’s inner world.