Frenetic, even harrowing, short cyclical videos dominate Civitello's show at the Semantics Gallery.
One is mounted within a long, black jaggedly broken column in the front room. Three are suspended under a slat-wood canopy in the back area. All display ambiguous imagery, inviting interpretation. One appears to mimic a heart's palpitation, ready to burst from nervousness, while another has a human figure of indiscernible form, struggling somewhat. The images are haunting, their soundtrack menacing and their pacing rapid: his 'brinks.'
A young artist, this is the technological and restless world of a new generation, honestly rendered. He builds these works out of discarded televisions and other such materials, unlike many video installations that utilize new, expensive equipment.
The rhythmic nature of the installation causes its frenetic aspects, in time, to become a quiet, even tolerable, background hum (Civitello's own observation). Hence what was overpowering here at first then reveals itself as the embodiment of a sensitive, observant soul to contemporary urban realities.
It is then that one notices the five photos on the wall. They feature light breaking through darkness, a motif of Christian illumination. For Civitello, and perhaps us as well, they represent hope.
-A.C. Frabetti
BRINK: work by Joe Civitello, Semantics Gallery, 1107 Harrison Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45214. April 4-April 25, 2009. Closing Reception: April 25, 7-10pm. For gallery appointments, contact the artist at civitellojoe@gmail.com.
In photo: view inside Broken Tunnel, mixed media installation. Photo by AEQAI staff.
