CHERYL DUNN | ALESSANDRO ZUEK SIMONETTI, Uncanny

Galleria Patricia Armocida presented a double solo exhibition by Cheryl Dunn and Alessandro Zuek Simonetti that opened on Monday November 28th, 2011.The exhibit consisted of 34 black & white and color photographs from the most iconic shots to the most recent shots by the two artists, as well as one 16mm video created by Cheryl Dunn for the show.

The Uncanny (Das Unheimliche in the original German) is a Freudian concept of an instance where something can be familiar, yet foreign at the same time, resulting in a feeling of alienation or creepy familiarity. The images in the exhibit, portraits of New York’s streets and the characters and details that fill them, evoke those same feelings. Glimpses of a legendary city whose images have infiltrated our minds since childhood, a constant sense of déjà-vu which leads us to stitch together memories and ideal mental images of this place we may have never been to.

This déjà-vu is apparent when comparing the two artists: they walk the streets in different places and in different years, photographing and being influenced by the same subjects, before information and references were so easily and quickly accessible to all. Cheryl is a first-generation photographer who portrayed the various niche youth cultures that were coming to life in the 80s in New York: the hardcore scene, skateboarders, and the first graffiti writers. The same can be said of Zuek, 10 years later, who was part of the first generation of Italians to document the budding scene in this country.

Cheryl Dunn affirms she is more fascinated by the highs and lows of humanity than by the mid-range, for her extremes are informative, they offer insight and knowledge. The photos in the exhibit chronicle her career, from the 90s through the Occupy Wall Street protests. The artist and filmmaker will also had two videos on display. In her creative journey, filmmaking was a natural progression arising from the still image: “I was always trying to say more than one frame could communicate, so the making was very freeing, incorporating lots of elements I love, music, movement, storytelling”.

Cheryl Dunn (New Jersey, 1960) is a successful filmmaker and photographer based in New York City. She works for magazines like Spin, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Dazed & Confused. Her films have appeared in several important film festivals including Tribeca, Edinburgh, Rotterdam, Los Angeles, and Havana, as well as on PBS. Her work has been shown in various galleries and museums such as Deich Projects in New York, Tate Modern in London, and in the "Art in the Streets” exhibit at MOCA in Los Angeles. Cheryl was one of the protagonists of the documentary, book, and traveling museum show Beautiful Losers, curated by Aaron Rose. Two books of her works have been published: Bicycle Gangs of New York and Some Kinda Vocation. She recently released her latest film: Everybody Street.

Some noteworthy solo exhibitions: Anybody Avenue Stall Baggage, Tokyo, 2015; Sometimes the Answer Ivory & Black, London, 2012; Uncanny, Galleria Patricia Armocida, Milan, 2011; Spit and Peanut Shells, Country Club Gallery, Cincinnati, 2009; No One’s Not Happy When Theyʼre Dancing, Fuse Gallery, New York, 2007; Habitare Elizabeth Paige Smith Atelier, Venice, 2006; Tri-State New Image Art, Los Angeles, 2001.

Cheryl Dunn took part of several collectives: Seraphin Gallery 1108 Pine St, Philadelphia, 2016; The Newsstand Ocean of Images: New Photography 2015; MOMA, New York, 2015; The Spring Cleaning, The Laundromt, New York, 2015; Deadbeat Club - Mentally Retired Slow Culture, Los Angeles, 2015; It's an Invasion National Arts Club, New York, 2014; Deeds Not Words II Mild Manners Gallery, Sydney, 2014; Hindsight V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, 2014; 5 Years Gallery Steinsland Berliner, Stockholm, 2013; Portrait of a Generation, Hole Gallery, New York, 2012; Public: Collective Identity / Occupied Spaces Toronto Photography Festival at MOCCA, Toronto, 2012; Everybody Street London Festival of Photography, Tate Modern, London, 2011; Gossip Well Told Warrington Museum and Art Gallery, Warrington, 2011; LES Exposed Clayton Gallery and Outlaw Art Museum, New York, 2011; In Art We Trust Nikolaj Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, Copenhagen, 2011; Art in the streets, MOCA The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 2011; Right Here, Right Now, FORMAT International Photography Festival, Derby, 2011; Everybody Street, Seaport Museum, New York, 2010; Postermat, The Hole Gallery, New York, 2010; 100% Natural, J. Riggs Fine Art, Miami, 2010; Sacer, MONIKER Art Fair, London, 2010; Creative Growth, Galerie Impaire, Paris, 2010; Come As You Are New Image Art, Los Angeles, 2010; Never a Dull Moment, White Walls Gallery, San Francisco, 2010; Projections, Roberts and Tilton Gallery, Los Angeles, 2010; Put your Finger on the Button, New Image Art, Los Angeles, 2010; Transfer, Country Club Projects, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Alessandro Zuek Simonetti (Bassano del Grappa, 1977) lives and works in New York City. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice with a thesis on Portrait Photography As Social Research-Cataloging umankind. His works have been published by important Italian and international magazines and have appeared in prominent curatorial projects such the PS1 MOMA bookshop in Queens, NY and in galleries of international relevance.

Some recent exhibits: No Soul for Sale, Tate Modern, London; "La fioritura del Bambu, DOCVA Viafarini, Milan; Il Museo Privato, La passione per l'arte contemporanea nelle collezioni bergamasche, Gamec Bergamo; Interessi Personali, Romberg; Contemporanea, Rome, Italy; UDLMIDLU, Oh-Wow Gallery (Hamburger Eyes), Miami, USA; POV Point of View, Jarach Gallery, Venice, Italy; The Polaroid, Galleria Ca' di Fra (curated by Claudio Composti), Milan, Italy; Italidea, Guadalajara and Mexico City (curated by Renato Miracco), Mexico; The Last Neighborhood Standing, Leica Gallery, NYC, USA, a collective project with Tony Arcabascio and Steve Powers.

He has also collaborated with performance artists such as Davide Balliano, Marcello Maloberti, and Nico Vascellari.