Rossella BLUE: 'New York & Venice (and Paris too!) a tribute during the pandemic'

Reflections on loved cities during the pandemic from the perspective of an artist who lives in New York and loves Venice (and Paris too!)

New York, December 2020

Cities are the heart of culture, but the pandemic has decimated ours beyond recognition. I can’t travel to my beloved Venice or hop on a plane to Paris, but I see the effects of COVID-19 every day in New York, the city I call home. A deserted Theater District; opera and concert halls closed indefinitely; art institutions and galleries permanently shuttered or running on limited schedules; streets emptied of tourists; and residents who have departed now that they no longer need to work here—all factors that leave us wondering about the future of our dynamic cities and the future of culture itself.

Yet I still remember the greatness of New York and that timeless feeling, “If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere.” I recall the breathtaking sensation every time I arrive in Venice, and the sheer excitement of Paris, the City of Light.

VENICE and its ARCHITECTURE

Venice. no. 5879 by Rossella BLUE Mocerino

Venice, December 2019

Having no set itinerary and finding many places closed due to a recent, devastating acqua alta, my wife and I wandered aimlessly through the city. By pure chance, we passed houses that had previously featured in my "number paintings"—works that combine masked figures with architectural details and the matching street numbers found at those addresses.

Venice. no. 3666 by Rossella BLUE Mocerino

Venice. no. 974-B by Rossella BLUE Mocerino

Venice . no.1737 by Rossella BLUE Mocerino

If you visit Venice, you will still find all of these architectural details except for this one. Installed during Carnival 2006, it was later removed. I eventually learned that this building, number 1737, had once served as a mask-making shop—making the addition of the mask delightfully ironic.

VENICE, a jewel among cities

Venice by Rossella BLUE Mocerino

VENICE and its STONES

the new number paintings

Venice. no. 4468 - 4472 by Rossella BLUE Mocerino

In this painting, the arrow points to numbers 4468–4472 in Venice, where a plaque embedded in the pavement provides historical context for the address. The plaque reads: "Here lived Bartolomeo Meloni, born in 1900. Arrested as a 'politico' on 4.10.1943. Deported to Dachau. Died 9.7.1944.

Venice. no. 1525 by Rossella BLUE Mocerino

Since 1993, I have attended the Venice Carnival every year—not only to find renewed inspiration, but also because one can never take for granted that what exists today will be here tomorrow. As it turned out, the final two days of Carnevale that year were canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy. The last masked figure I saw in Piazza San Marco was holding a skull. Little did I know how relentlessly appropriate that image would prove to be.

New York and its SKYSCRAPERS

Best of New York by Rossella BLUE Mocerino

New York by Rossella BLUE Mocerino

The fluffy collars bring to mind the waves of the Hudson River, while the tall, conical hats evoke the iconic New York skyline.

Living Among Giants by Rossella BLUE Mocerino

MOSAICS and URBAN TILES

The Sicilian Influence

The Riddle by Rossella BLUE Mocerino

I've Read the Past, I've Seen the Present, I Believe in the Future by Rossella BLUE Mocerino

After the Rain by Rossella BLUE Mocerino

When I think of Sicily, what immediately comes to mind are its mosaics. The backgrounds in these paintings were inspired by the mosaics I saw in Monreale and Palermo—and perhaps, by the tiles of the New York subway system.

PARIS, Picasso and HARLEQUINS

Paris, January 2020

If the Venice Carnival had been my primary source of inspiration up to that point, I soon found another muse. Bursting with creativity after visiting the Francis Bacon retrospective at the Centre Pompidou and catching the Magical Paintings exhibition at the Picasso Museum, I began to see Paris in a whole new light. Walking through its streets, I discovered addresses with unique architectural details I felt compelled to turn into "number paintings"—works now inhabited by my Venetian masked figures.

Paris. no. 68 by Rossella BLUE Mocerino

Paris. no. 31by Rossella BLUE Mocerino