Sèvres - Francesca DiMattio

Francesca DiMattio: Sèvres

March 3rd - April 16th, 2022

Francesca DiMattio, Sèvres, Installation View. Photography by Adam Reich

Nina Johnson is thrilled to be presenting Francesca DiMattio’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, Sèvres. Sèvres brings together large-scale ceramic sculptures, smaller scale works alongside artist made pedestals and pieces of furniture, all inspired by plates from the 19th century period of the same name.

Francesca DiMattio, Saucony I, 2022, Glaze and luster on porcelain, 64 x 21 x 17 in (overall). Installation view.

Sèvres era objects are known for their extensive gilding, rich border designs and elaborate, floral and pastoral scenes, which are typically codified as being ‘feminine’ in nature and often referred to as ‘decorative.’

Francesca DiMattio, Folk Heart Chair, 2022, Paper pulp on wood, acrylic, and automotive paint, 36 x 18 x 20 in.

Francesca DiMattio, Sèvres, Installation View. Photography by Adam Reich

In her work, DiMattio has consistently found ways to reframe that which we have often brushed off as decorative and, by implication, feminine, and re-introduces the viewer to these objects as the central point of focus within the spaces they occupy.

Francesca DiMattio, Pump III, 2022, Glaze on stoneware, 63 x 20 x 12 in. (overall) Installation View

Francesca DiMattio, Sèvres, Installation View. Photography by Adam Reich

In DiMattio’s world, that which is traditionally overlooked is now in control, almost viral in its overtaking of architecture and space.

Francesca DiMattio, Helmet Caryatid, 2022, Glaze on porcelain, 83 x 31 x 34 in. (detail)

Francesca DiMattio, Sèvres, Installation View. Photography by Adam Reich

Trashbag II Caryatid combines the revered Greek Venus, a set of contemporary lingerie, and a 40-gallon trash bag (sculpted while the artist saw her own trash piling up) with various other elements to shape a monumental, intricate sculpture.

Francesca DiMattio, Trash Bag II, 2022, Glaze on porcelain, 82 x 36 x 20.5 in. (detail)

Francesca DiMattio, Sèvres, Installation View. Photography by Adam Reich

One of three such works in the show, these elaborate totems bring together opposites, finding connective threads in absurd reference points to form a labored stream of consciousness.

Francesca DiMattio, Greyhound Caryatid, 2022, Glaze on porcelain, 81 x 23.5 x 24 in. (detail)

Francesca DiMattio, Sèvres, Installation View. Photography by Adam Reich

Much of the work refers back to domestic labor, to the careful labor that so often falls to women, labor that is often overlooked or relegated to the periphery. In Sèvres, DiMattio is elevating these acts of love, of labor, of care, into monuments that demand an audience.

Francesca DiMattio, Converse I, 2022, Glaze on stoneware, 27 x 16 x 9 in.

Francesca DiMattio

Francesca DiMattio’s (b. 1981) practice combines a cacophony of influences, which she applies in a layered and non-hierarchical approach to her work. In both her sculpture and painting, she discovers ways to weave together the history and artistry of craft, transposing it from a practice of quiet control into one that seems unpredictable, explosive and shifting. Recent solo exhibitions include Wedgwood at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London (UK), Sèvres at Nina Johnson, Miami (FL), Boucherouite at Salon 94 Bowery, New York (NY); Francesca DiMattio: Housewares at the Blaffer Art Museum, Houston (TX) and Vertical Arrangements at the Zabludowicz Collection, London (U.K.). Her work is in the collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco (CA), the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton (NY); the Perez Art Museum, Miami (FL); the Frances Young Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs (NY); the Saatchi Gallery, London (U.K.); the Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach (FL) and the Zabludowicz Collection. Francesca DiMattio’s work has been covered by the New York Times, Art Newspaper, T Magazine, The New Yorker, Vogue, W Magazine and World of Interiors, among others.