Born in Italy, Simo Neri has lived in California, France and New York. She now lives in San Francisco. Influenced by these different cultures, as well as by studies in art and philosophy, she has been combining photographic and painting techniques since 1978. Neri’s installations of large “photo curtains” are repetitive, rhythmic and meditative in nature. Her recent work explores new printing techniques on silk, linen and cotton canvas. Simo Neri’s work has been exhibited and collected in the United States, Europe and Japan.
Serial Photographer “Ever since I can remember I have approached reality through multiple perspectives. It has always been difficult for me to choose a single image to capture the essence of a subject – whether a tree, a dancer, a city, the ocean. What better way to get close to something than to move across the details of its surface, clicking selectively, collecting intimate visual data? As in film, the sequences follow the rhythm of discovery, connecting discontinuous images through the movements of the eye behind the camera. The sequences can then be accumulated and composed to create a larger statement. imposing a kind of order on reality’s many chaotic forms, altering the work’s perception whether seen from a distance, or from up close. Sequential photography allows me to work on a large scale and to combine painterly elements with a sculptural format. The compositions become interactive, rhythmic, and meditative, providing a glimpse of the infinite within the physical world. Experience a different perception of time, not presented in a seamless flow, but as time broken down into moments, captured one after the other.”
Art in Public Spaces “I am interested in developing works of art for public spaces, on a scale that interacts convincingly with public architecture, and which will be enjoyed by a large and diverse public. In my work I like to transgress predictable perceptions of space and time: to widen horizons by installing indoor skies and vertical walls of grass, to have people walk through curtains of fire or car parts. By making work that can be touched and sometimes actually walked through, I challenge the conventional notion of art as something to be kept separate from the body. I think of my work as serious, certainly, but at the same time as both playful and poetic.”
Wearable Art “One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.” Oscar Wilde Printing my work directly onto fabric offers great creative possibilities. For the last twelve years I have been experimenting with printing on a number of different fabrics to create wearable objects, using designs derived from my original compositions. Though I continue to experiment, my favorite product to date is the silk scarf: a wrap-around composition printed directly on silk. The inks penetrate this highly resistant, easily washable silk permanently, making the scarf durable in time. The printed silk softens with wear. The scarves are signed and dated, and are printed in limited editions of 150 for each design.”
