Visual Art
The visual art of The EBB Project has been shown in various exhibitions and also shown in installations with the other art objects, performance relics, and photographs created and accumulated as the project has progressed. An installation expresses the sympathy that exists between things, ideas and disciplines. Video will be available here soon. Seen above left is "Imagine me imagining you/Dream of me dreaming of you" an interactive installation Neri created for The Gallery Project in Ann Arbor, MI. and exhibited from Dec. 10, 2008 till Jan 18th, 2009. Find news about recent visual art exhibits & installations at Current News.
Visual art emerging from The EBB Project is also a form of research. In other words, the art comes first and holds ideas that are sometimes further explored by Neri in both critical and creative writing. A good example of this is "EBB Trinity (Sonnet II)" a mixed-media collage and drawing with text.
EBB Trinity ("Sonnet 2") 1998.
36"H x 42"W
The three variants of EBB's 1861 final photograph are used in this work. The floating hands in "EBB Trinity (Sonnet II)" are a reference to the spirit manifestations that fascinated EBB and so many people in the 19th century. The hands also symbolize inspiration. The quote written on the middle, seated image of Elizabeth is from "Sonnet II" of her Sonnets From the Portuguese:
"But only three in all God's universe
Have heard this word thou hast said, --"
Neri states: "The word 'said' is Love. My focus has been on EBB's 44 love sonnets: Sonnets from the Portuguese. In the process of creating "EBB Trinity (Sonnet II)" I began to contemplate EBB's use of three and her conception and presentation of the three who heard the word Love in "Sonnet II." I direct the interested reader to my article: "Sonnet I and Sonnet II of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese: Setting the stage for divine reunification." I explored some of the ideas that came from EBB Trinity in this paper. Find it published in Studies in Browning and His Circle, Volume 26 (September 2005)."
Casa Guidi Cutwind 1998,
35" H x 42" W.
Another example is Casa Guidi Cutwind, a mixed-media collage of created and found images with poem.
Casa Guidi Cutwind uses the shape of the Casa Guidi, the building in Florence where Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning lived for 15 years, and layers it with the image of the Cutwind, a stone masonry building used by EBB's ancestors in Jamaica to escape hurricanes. Both the poets had Jamaican ancestry. The similarity of the shapes struck Neri and as the artwork was coming together she wrote the poem. (seen on the left side of the work) in response to events that occurred in these masonry structures.
Note re Framing: Neri's work is framed between plexi and the intention is to do without a traditional frame as Neri believes that often frames bordering work distract or add unnecessary elements. The intention is also to recreate the conception of the work in Neri's mind, i.e. to create a sense of that dynamic moment in time when ideas / words / images come together, are suspended and made observable.
Interested presenters click here for more information on hosting installations and exhibitions.
More Information regarding Visual Art from The EBB Project:
10 Dream Drawings, 2001.
The drawings are actually on two 14" x 17" pieces of white paper and were published in Performance Research, Volume 9, Number 1 (Routledge) March 2004: See Neri's Artist Pages (pdf)
Read more about the significance of the 'Dream Drawings' at Neri's Artist Statement. Scroll down here to see photos of how they were used in Performance and scroll across here NY Performance.
Selected works from the EBB Project
Drawings and Sculptures (2011-1998)
"Mirror Images"
Mixed-media 3d assemblages (2000-2008)