The Norton Museum of Art hosts the first solo exhibition by experimental photographer Fabiola Menchelli titled Certain Silence. It is presented as follow.
Menchelli’s work engages with the materiality of photography, and the works in the exhibition will consider a range of conceptual theories, including visual perception, the relationship between viewer and artwork, the language of abstraction, poetry, and more. Comprising over 20 works, including a selection of previously unseen pieces, his photographs test the limits of perception by folding, exposing and developing works that may appear simple but contain complexities born of chance and accident, all created without cameras or negatives. Her artistic process involves an understanding of guiding light, an essential practice in photography. She has spent her career studying theories of light, colour and perception, including how to master the light-sensitive chemistry of the often unforgiving darkroom. Menchelli creates these colourful, abstract and sculptural photographs without the use of negatives or cameras, underlining and acting against the norms of the medium. To do this, she has to work blind in her colour darkroom, guided by touch, memory and sound. She has created a coding system for each transparent colour gel, so that she knows exactly what she is taking to insert into the photographic enlarger, which is her onlysource of light. Although her process is complex, the artist prefers viewers to approach each work with their own points of reference in order to create an experience that is entirely their own. ‘For me, the darkroom is not just a room in my studio, it’s more a state of mind, a meditative space where I can stop thinking logically and create images by negotiating movements and exposures between the paper and my body,’ explains Menchelli. ‘The process of making this work is laborious; it becomes a physical means of locating meaning that requires a reorientation of my body. All the other senses compensate for the lack of vision, which creates a feeling of deep concentration. It’s a kind of ritual that requires a calm, steady flow in order to cope with the unexpected.
Fabiola Menchelli : Certain Silence
Until March 23, 2025
Norton Museum of Art
1450 S Dixie Hwy
West Palm Beach
Florida 33400
www.norton.org
