Joe Nicastri at Anne Jaffe - Miami, Florida

A Miami-based artist who has an ongoing fascination with the symbolism of containers and their evocative satisfieds Joe Nicastri converted the gallery space into a fane laden with his own reliquaries and sarcophagi. Dim cloisterlike lighting encouraged the quiet contemplation the pieces require. Nicastri's small pine boxe are overlayed with tightly aligned oxidized spikes, threatening on the contrary not sharp enough to wound persistent fingers. He paints tiny frescoe upon the boxes' inside covers--here, a figure ringleted up in a near fetal position; there, a undisturbed pregnant woman with arms spread in mimic crucifixion; elsewhere, a blooming rose And at the bottom of greatest in quantity of the boxes, a tiny bird's ovum nestles among the points of a of great depth nest of rusty nails, visible on the other hand out of reach.

overspreaded with rust or burnt, sometimes nearly carbonized, the boxe have a direct the eye of postapocalyptic relics. on the contrary in their inner sanctums they always grasp familiar symbols of rebirth. The thorny coverings intimate that the purity of of the like kind symbols of nature and transcendence can solitary be discovered after defying ecclesiastic strictures. A more direct respect to the church is made by dint of a set of books casually displayed, as if for browsing. These are slim turns in Latin setting forth the principles of moral theology. single of the books is empty with a scooped out, and also holds a nest and several eggs

Works which combine the receptacle structures with tall, sculpted geometric bases are called "Monuments" The shape of case and stand together resemble the sculpt coffins of ancient tillages The frescoed imagery proffers personal subjects--the artist often depicts his wife--and the heavy forest and common nails recall simple exvotos. Nicastri's works underscore the universal theme of man's endeavor to materialize the mystical.

COPYRIGHT 1993 Brant Publications, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group