Jeanette Luchese Narrates, “The Stories Within”.
By Renata Mcginn.
Exhibition title: “The Process Informs Me” at OMAH (Orillia Museum of Art and History) July 27th-October 19th, attended in person
“A Cautionary Tale of Love And Life. It’s Messy.”
Fresco on wooden panel , pigments on lime green plaster, (Italian slaked lime ,Carrara marble powder) sealant- Savan de Marseilles, beeswax. 48”x 48”, 2024 
“New Beginnings “ Fresco on wooden panel , pigments on lime green plaster, (Italian slaked lime ,Carrara marble powder) sealant- Savan de Marseilles, beeswax.
48”x 48”, 2024 
“Studio Uno, ( Study One)”Fresco on wooden panel , pigments on lime green plaster, (Italian slaked lime ,Carrara marble powder) sealant- Savan de Marseilles, beeswax. 8”x 8”, 2024
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Love and hate, life and death, light and darkness. It can be difficult for people to recognize their conflicting innermost thoughts and feelings and realize their subconscious state of mind. Jeanette Luchese, an Italian Canadian artist, does exactly this as she uses the process of creating abstract contemporary frescos to unveil her “stories within.”
Fresco painting is an age-old technique that was used by artists like Michelangelo during the Renaissance Period in Italy. It was predominantly used by male artists who typically painted in a realistic style. It is clearly ground breaking that Luchese, a female artist, learned the process of this technique and incorporates it into her contemporary abstract style. She has truly “rekindled an interest in an old medium, and brings a current female perspective to this technique” (Luchese, 2024). Frescos are made through a process of painting or placing pigment on wet plaster. Tanya Cunnington the curator of OMAH states “there is a three hour window before it dries which can give the artist a sense of urgency while painting.” Cunnington goes on to explain, “around 2021 Luchese suffered a loss in her family.” This raw grief can be felt in the expression of many of her paintings, especially in the dark masses and eerie black markings that overshadow many of these frescos. Yet this wrestles with and is contrasted by “Lucheses’ love of joy, and her hope in life” (Cunnington, 2024). Luchese explains, “after this loss I embraced my Italian heritage and love for painting using both to rebuild myself.” This positive energy is clearly seen throughout her use of bright monochromatic yellows, pinks, and blues bursting forth through many of these expressive paintings. In “A Cautionary Tale of Love and Life. It’s Messy” the viewer has no choice but to engage in a rather dark story. Looking to the left there is a dark mass, almost like a blurry shadow staring out into space. Down to the left of this fresco the blurry values get lighter and there is a dark “X that marks the spot.” This makes a rather loud statement. Are we to be warned at this point? More dark markings are placed around the painting, almost vibrating, creating a stark contrast to the large amounts of white space in the background. Moving through this exhibition, beside some of these large frescoes (48”x48”) are some smaller ones (8”x8”). The small and the large are coupled together. This contrast in size helps the viewer focus in on the smaller frescoes so that their stories are heard too. In “Studio Uno (Study One),” Luchese draws the viewer into a tale that speaks through vibrant yellows, oranges, and across somber dark tones. There is a large black marking that sits across the right half of this wood panel, like the corner of a door opening to tell us of this tricky dark story. There is very little white space in this painting, but the crackling black blurry smudges throughout look like the static one might see on an old T.V. Some of the monochromatic yellow strokes of paint in this work startle us, like the large “O” on the bottom left, or the yellow stripes on the top right. Other yellow hues are barely visible beneath the dark shadows. Three bright orange stripes, and another “O” stretch diagonally from the middle to the bottom right, providing more colour to this dark melody. In contrast to the last two frescoes, “New Beginnings” shines outward like a brilliant sunrise about to overtake the darkness of night. Luchese accomplishes this by using monochromatic yellows and blues that cover much of this painting’s surface. However, there is a dark mass, with many black markings creeping diagonally across the right. At the top left is the focal point created by twig-like black lines, sharp like a razor's edge, cutting through the yellow hues. On the right side there is a darker blue line that fades down towards the centre. It creates a calm feeling, one you may get from looking across the glassy water of a lake in the early morning hours. Feminist theory states, “gender is a primary factor in how we perceive the world, and understand art, but gender has been overlooked for centuries by aestheticians and critics who would want us to believe that we can approach art and experience it neutrally” (Barrett, 2012). Throughout Luchese’s fresh new way of creating frescoes, ‘[her] process’ brings a clear female perspective to this ancient male dominated technique. This is quite like how the canonical Frida Kahlo brought the female perspective to the forefront of the art world in her time. Like Kahlo, Luchese explores her ancestral roots and incorporates this into her artwork and her narrative. Ted Fullerton in his essay about Luchese’s body of work states, “she has a passion to express an idea, it informs her while she instinctively is guided by the materials and application resulting in a visual ‘abstract’ of a heartfelt and deeply personal narrative that can be shared with anyone who chooses to engage.” Marxist theory states that, “artists and artwork describe the invisible or below the surface, sometimes unknown to the artist” (Barrett, 2012). In this exhibition Luchese skillfully brings us to a place where we can relate to her subconscious “stories within” that ask us to ponder love and hate, life and death, and the forces of dark and light working in her life, and in ours. |