Bruce Cahn in Venice, Italy: CASTELLO 925, Fondamenta San Giuseppe, Sestiere Castello 925, 31022 Venice, Italy
Overview
Bruce Cahn in Venice, Italy, CASTELLO 925, Fondamenta San Giuseppe, Sestiere Castello 925, 31022 Venice, Italy
His practice was both obsessive and spiritual, working tirelessly, day-after-day, in private to perfect each hand made visual art discipline—a goal he believed that would prepare him for his next life.

Born in the Bronx, Bruce Cahn led an eccentric, solitary life driven by an all-consuming desire to live life as an ongoing creative process. The son of a prominent New York City caterer, he spent his childhood comfortable but socially disinterested, preferring to spend time in his parent’s basement sculpting anatomical studies of the human form or mounting shows upstairs of his drawings and prints.

After attending the Horace Mann School where he studied sculpture under the esteemed arts instructor Ion Theodore, he worked briefly for his father’s Kosher catering company at the Grand Concourse employing his skillset and love of form to create custom ice sculptures for events.  

He continued his education at Bard College, where he studied with Harvey Fite, whom he visited at his quarry, Opus 40, in Saugerties, NY; Rhode Island School of Design; and with sculptor José Mariano de Creeft. He also became a lifetime member of The Art Students League, a refuge he routinely frequented to draw, paint, and make sculptures.

An outsider in many senses of the word, Bruce Cahn was a prolific and reclusive creator of a diverse range of distinctive images and sculptural objects. His practice was both obsessive and spiritual, working tirelessly, day-after-day, in private to perfect each hand made visual art discipline—a goal he believed that would prepare him for his next life.  Once he’d become an expert in one medium, he would turn to another – always learning, always growing.  

In his isolation he amassed a lifetime of highly unique pieces, produced over a 25-year period inside of his modest Chelsea studio or cottage in Woodstock, and included street photography, analog photographs, nude watercolor studies, geometric oil paintings, and eccentric self-portraits. In this large and unusual collection, Bruce Cahn’s extraordinary talent as a colorist, his sensitivity to line, and rhythmic compositions combine to create a formal beauty that finds a place in any defined art category.

Bruce Cahn’s devotion to creativity was broad and continuous, an internal contest of mastery. Now, the public has the opportunity to view his prodigious body of work from a singular vantage.   

                                                                                                           - Chadd Scott

 

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Press release

Media Contact: Jen Dragon | crosscontemporaryprojects@gmail.com

Castello 925 

Fondamenta San Giuseppe

Sestiere Castello, 925

30122 Venezia, IT

galleria@castello925.com

14 September - 24 November, 2024

VERNISSAGE: Saturday 14 September, 2024, 18:00- 20:00 

ENGLISH

(Venice, ITALY) -  Castello 925 presents the watercolors, gouaches and works on paper of the late New York artist Bruce Cahn. Cahn's work is known not only for his accomplished techniques, but also for its powerful symbolic imagery. These artworks range from realistic depictions of the human form in all of its beautiful diversity to elegant abstract mandalas that chart the spiritual journey of the individual. 

A prolific yet reclusive artist, Cahn’s art practice was both obsessive and spiritual, working tirelessly in the belief that visual perfection would prepare him for his next life. 

This exhibition of works on paper by Bruce Cahn is aligned with the theme of the 60th Venice Biennale, Foreigners Everywhere, in that Cahn’s work shifts in perspective from the human form to the inner spirit much as a foreigner journeys to the lands’ edge. As a foreigner in his own body, Bruce Cahn spiritually transcended at the end of his life through his art practice. 

BRUCE CAHN opens with a reception on Saturday, September 14, 2024 from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm and remains on view through November 24, 2024.

 

About Bruce Cahn:

Born in the Bronx, Bruce Cahn led an eccentric, solitary life driven by an all-consuming desire to absorb himself into an ongoing creative process. The son of a prominent New York City caterer, Cahn spent his childhood comfortable but socially disinterested, preferring to spend time sculpting and drawing. After his graduation from Horace Mann High School, Cahn studied with sculptor Harvey Fite at Bard College and then with José Mariano de Creeft at the Rhode Island School of Design. A life-time member of the Arts Student League in New York City, Bruce Cahn worked obsessively in his small apartment/studio and later, in his Woodstock, New York cottage. Apart from a solo exhibit at the Horace Mann Fisher Gallery, Bruce Cahn avoided showing his artworks so as not to be distracted from his intensive art practice. This special solo exhibition at Castello 925 is the first time these works on paper by Bruce Cahn have ever been exhibited.

ABOUT CASTELLO 925:

Castello 925 is a multi-disciplinary, non-profit gallery which serves as a crucible for the visual arts, literature and culture. Founder Luca Caldironi envisioned a space dedicated to creativity, or rather cre-activity. Castello 925 is a gallery where experimental expressions of all kinds come to meet, collaborate, improvise, produce and construct; a place to present "finished" works that were built elsewhere, yet also a space where new ideas and new co-operations come to life.

ITALIANO 

COMMUNICATO STAMPA 

per il rilascio immediato

CONTATTO: Jen Dragon

Castello 925, Fondamenta San Giuseppe 

galleria@castello925.com

14 settembre - 24 novembre, 2024

VERNISSAGE: Sabato 14 settembre, 2024, 18:00- 20:00 

Pagina della mostra: https://bit.ly/brucecahn

(Venezia, VE) - Castello 925 presenta gli acquerelli, le gouaches e le opere su carta del compianto artista newyorkese Bruce Cahn. Il lavoro di Cahn è noto non solo per le sue tecniche riuscite, ma anche per il suo potente immaginario simbolico. Queste opere su carta spaziano da rappresentazioni realistiche della forma umana in tutte le varietà di età, forme e colori a eleganti mandala astratti che tracciano un viaggio spirituale privato.  

Chad Scott scrive dell'artista “Bruce Cahn era un creatore prolifico e solitario di una vasta gamma di immagini distintive e oggetti scultorei. La sua pratica era allo stesso tempo ossessiva e spirituale, lavorando instancabilmente, giorno dopo giorno, in privato per perfezionare ogni disciplina dell'arte visiva fatta a mano, un obiettivo che credeva lo avrebbe preparato per la sua prossima vita.

Questa mostra di opere su carta di Bruce Cahn è in linea con il tema della 60a Biennale di Venezia, Stranieri Dappertutto, in quanto il lavoro di Cahn si sposta in prospettiva dalla forma umana allo spirito interiore come uno straniero nel proprio corpo che alla fine ha trasceso la fine della sua vita attraverso la sua pratica artistica.

A proposito di Bruce Cahn:

Nato nel Bronx, Bruce Cahn ha condotto una vita eccentrica e solitaria guidata dal desiderio divorante di immergersi in un processo creativo continuo. Figlio di un importante ristoratore di New York, Cahn ha trascorso la sua infanzia agiata ma socialmente disinteressata, preferendo passare il tempo a scolpire e disegnare. Dopo essersi diplomato alla Horace Mann High School, Cahn ha studiato con lo scultore Harvey Fite al Bard College e poi con José Mariano de Creeft alla Rhode Island School of Design. Membro a vita della Arts Student League di New York City, Bruce Cahn lavorava ossessivamente nel suo piccolo appartamento/studio e più tardi, nel suo cottage di Woodstock, New York. A parte una mostra personale alla Horace Mann Fisher Gallery, Bruce Cahn ha evitato di mostrare le sue opere per non essere distratto dalla sua intensa pratica artistica. Questa speciale mostra personale al Castello 925 è la prima volta che queste opere su carta di Bruce Cahn vengono esposte fuori dagli Stati Uniti.

INFORMAZIONI SU CASTELLO 925:

Castello 925 è una galleria multidisciplinare e senza scopo di lucro che funge da crogiolo per le arti visive, la letteratura e la cultura. Il fondatore Luca Caldironi ha immaginato uno spazio dedicato alla creatività, o meglio alla cre-attività. Castello 925 è una galleria dove espressioni sperimentali di ogni tipo si incontrano, collaborano, improvvisano, producono e costruiscono; un luogo dove presentare opere “finite” che sono state realizzate altrove, ma anche uno spazio dove prendono vita nuove idee e nuove collaborazioni.

Fare un clic sull'immagine o il nome d’artista per una risoluzione più elevata

 

Bruce Cahn, Blue Eye Mandala, gouache on paper, 49” x 44.5” | 124.5 x 113 cm

Bruce Cahn, Four Axe Mandala, gouache on canvas, 49” x 44.5”| 124.5 x 113 cm

Bruce Cahn, Masked Woman in Chelsea, NYC, gouache on paper 30” x 22” in| 76 x 55.5 cm

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Bruce Cahn, Seated African Woman, gouache on paper, 29.5” x 41” | 104 x 75 cm


 
 
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Virtual Exhibition
Born in the Bronx, Bruce Cahn led an eccentric, solitary life driven by an all-consuming desire to live life as an ongoing creative process. An outsider in many senses of the word, Cahn was a prolific and reclusive creator of a diverse range of distinctive images and sculptural objects. His practice was both obsessive and spiritual, working tirelessly, day-after-day, in private to perfect each hand made visual art discipline—a goal he believed that would prepare him for his next life. This exhibition in Venice is the first solo exhibit of the artist's work outside of the United States. 
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