Paradise Spell

A Solo Exhibition By Heather Lamanno

OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, July 23rd from 7:00-9:00pm at the Gallery Factory with music curated by Philippe Gallandat, and a Make+Take metal pouring workshop with the WOW Mobile Metal Lab. There will be safety measures in place. Find directions and a map on our website here. Find the Facebook event here.

7:00 Dani Reese, 7:30 Dave Dvorak, 8:00 I.R.P - Heather Huether and Ryan O'Dell, 8:30 Drew Selnes, 9:00 Philippe and Friends sing Bella Ciao

GALLERY HOURS: 12-5pm Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays or by appt: northeastsculpture@gmail.com . The show runs July 23rd through August 14th with safety measures in place (see below for details). Find directions and a map on our website here. Find the Facebook event here.

Note on COVID-19: Mask Up Minnesota! In light of safety concerns, Mask's must be worn indoors by those not vaccinated. We will be practicing social distancing, limiting to 15 people in the gallery at one time. Please contact us with questions or to make a private appointment at northeastsculpture@gmail.com or 612-743-6664

Artist Bio:

Heather Lamanno is an interdisciplinary artist who explores personal and cultural narratives within imaginary psychological spaces. Within her practice, she creates paintings and installations that depict construction sites that exist in an abstract and temporal space in-between the gap of proposal and completion. Lamanno received her BFA in Painting at the Kansas City Art Institute, and her MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She has exhibited her work in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the country, and has participated in many residencies and fellowships, including the Second Shift Studio Residency program in East St. Paul. Lamanno currently teaches at Augsburg University, and resides with her family in North Minneapolis.

Artist Statement:

“And also we see the distinctive American mentality...it is the Paradise Spell: The tendency to see the present from the vantage point of the future. It starts with imagination-the ability to fantasize about what some imminent happiness will look like. The future minded person leaps rashly toward that gauzy image. He or she is subtly more attached to the glorious future than to the temporary and unsatisfactory present. Time isn’t pushed from the remembered past to the felt present to the mysterious future. It is pulled by the golden future..” David Brooks- Our Sprawling, Supersize Utopia*

In recent times, I find myself floating in limbo, lost in visions of a murky past, deficient present, and idealized possibilities of the future. In this new body of paintings and concrete forms, I am exploring how the present might appear from a future vantage point. Within the paintings, abstracted architectural forms dwell in boldly colored landscapes and layered, hazy skylines. Structures emerge, cautiously seeping out of their environments, or drifting in aimless flight patterns. Whether engulfed in an emotionally charged atmosphere, or a quiet fog of ambiguity, these mysterious landscapes blur the boundaries of time and space. The installation of concrete towers and molded forms depicts the heaviness of historical infrastructure, patterned grids melting into mounds of disarray and uncertainty. The works in Paradise Spell depict moments and spaces that appear as I gaze back from future fantasies of imminent joy, found just beyond the horizon.

*Blauvelt, Andrew, and David Brooks. “Our Sprawling, Supersize Utopia.” Essay. In Worlds Away New Suburban Landscapes. Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 2008.