From Manhattan to San Diego to Cleveland, neighborhoods known for their Italian-American populations have endearingly been called Little Italy, where facets of the Mediterranean nation’s culture and cuisine are preserved and celebrated. For artists Lorraine Loots and Dina Brodsky, who both create work on a very small scale, a trip to Italy and a collaborative body of work proved to be a wonderful way to explore this theme quite literally.
Little Italy, Brodsky and Loots’ duo exhibition on view now at Paradigm Gallery + Studio, chronicles the artists’ trip to the country through itty bitty paintings. Loots works in watercolor, while Brodsky composes in oil, and each draws upon the landscapes, architecture, food, and cultural icons—think Vespas, pizza, spritzes, and the Colosseum—that we associate with La Dolce Vita. Framed, Loots’ works are only five inches across, while Brodsky’s tiny tondos encapsulate vast landscapes within a three-inch diameter surface.
Brodsky and Loots—based in Massachusetts and South Africa, respectively—first connected during the pandemic, inspired by each other’s interest in working in a tiny format. During the trip, they each experienced the place through their unique lens, tapping into memories and associations. Brodsky, who was born in Belarus and whose family traveled as refugees from the Soviet Union to the U.S. in the 1980s, spent a brief period in Italy during this relocation. The nation’s bucolic countryside and ancient architecture stuck with her over time.
Loots was long fascinated by Italy’s architectural and cultural heritage, and during the trip, she wandered the cobbled streets and plazas with two heirloom film cameras, snapping photos which she then developed once she returned home and used as reference for tiny watercolor paintings.
In Little Italy, some of Loots’ photographs, along with some of Brodsky’s sketchbooks, illustrate the two artists’ approaches to recording their experiences. The exhibition continues through August 24 in Philadelphia, and you can find more on the gallery’s website.
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