SELECTED PRESS RELEASES
2015
PRESS RELEASE (French and Italian versions also available).
New York. September 30th 2015.
Caroline Bergonzi, the fine art of Metamorphosis.
A 24 foot-wingspan phoenix in Manhattan reveals a well-kept secret Monaco artist.
New York trusted and nominated her, for this monumental public artwork.
Prince Albert of Monaco acknowledged the pioneer with a visit on site.
Metamorphosis of the artist.
Right after she lost her father, Caroline Bergonzi, took on metal works, in both welding and casting. Seven years later, of underground experimentations in New York, the Monaco artist raises from the ashes not only with a very specific and unique style, but also with a monumental sculpture in Manhattan.
Metamorphosis of the public art process.
From her nomination to participate to the City of New York M2M program (Models to Monuments), the artwork evolved from site photos and early sketches into a thorough research through concept writing, prototypes and a dialogue with civil engineer and the New York Park Departments, to get the permits, and finally dive into weeks of fabrication of the beast, until its installation, the official ceremony in Riverside Park South.
Metamorphosis of the metal.
Caroline Bergonzi has her way with bronze, steel and stainless. When most welders amplify the mass and heaviness of the material, she turns a sheet of metal from 2D into 3D complex and organic shapes, infuses the metal with grace, lightness and movement to artworks, which appear as both fragile and dangerous.
Metamorphosis of the district and NYC.
Urban and social metamorphoses are symbolized as well by this phoenix. This site-integrated creation faces the Hudson River splendor, in a still flight between the wall of golden Trump towers and the New York landmark of 68th street, the deeply rusted glorious remain of the past industrial era.
Metamorphosis for Monaco.
Caroline Bergonzi brought back to her country a victory. This monumental public artwork is great news, as a first in foreign land, in the Monegasque artistic history. On August 4th, the artist was invited to private audience with Prince Albert II at the Palace, and on September 24th, the Prince came to the monumental artworks site, in Manhattan, with a full delegation including His Excellency Gildo Pallanca-Pastor, Consul General in New York, and Her Excellency Isabelle Picco, Ambassador of Monaco at the United Nations.
The statue is located on the Hudson River at the level of 69th street, West Manhattan. For more information, visit www.carolinebergonzi.com (as well as www.bergonzijewelry.com for her wearable sculptures).
# # #
2014
CLASSIC CAR CLUB
English version : http://upscalelivingmag.com/events/raawart-event-new-york/
French version : * Revue de Presse * New York, le 14 mai 2014.
RAAWART / Alexis Gremmel T. (+1) 646 289 2104 ag.gremmel@gmail.com
MONACO BRILLE A NEW YORK, AU CLASSIC CAR CLUB
AVEC TROIS AMBASSADEURS PASSIONNES.
Samedi soir, RAAWART présentait une dizaine d’artistes dans un espace de 500 mètres carres et une hauteur sous plafond de six mètres à 500 invités, professionnels de la création, amateurs d’arts, collectionneurs et très jolies filles. Parmi les automobiles figuraient celles de Bond et de James Dean.
Concours de circonstances ? Trois enfants du pays s’y sont rencontrés et y ont brillamment représenté la Principauté. Caroline Bergonzi, artiste monégasque, avait été sélectionnée par Alexis Gremmel, le curateur de l’exposition, pour la qualité et le caractère unique de son art. Valérie Bruell-Melchior, de la Mission de Monaco aux Nations Unies, était venue soutenir son amie d’enfance. Jérôme Solamito, nouvellement installé à New York, était en charge du bar et des hors d’ouvres.
Coïncidences ? Si ce weekend était important pour le domaine de l’art contemporain à Manhattan, cette exposition s’est aussi déroulée pendant Grand Prix Historique de Monaco.
Caroline Bergonzi, peintre et sculpteur, y présentait des œuvres en acier découpé, avec un mouvement, un élan et un effet de vitesse qui caractérisent son style de sculpture. Son art ressortaient particulièrement bien devant les voitures de prestige. «Mon père était un passionné de belles voitures et je le retrouve un peu quand je travaille en atelier de soudure».
Jérôme Solamito, quant à lui, a ouvert un restaurant à Soho, en février dernier, nommé Chicane en référence au virage légendaire du Grand Prix de Monaco…
Visiter: www.raawart.com, www.carolinebergonzi.com, et www.chicanenyc.com.
# # #
2012
CAROLINE BERGONZI CREATIVE ODYSSEY
NEW YORK, Sept. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In a perfect confluence of people, time and space, Caroline Bergonzi, the enigmatic Monaco artist in New York, will soon expose herself.
Angel Orensanz Foundation for the Arts, 172 Norfolk Street, NYC
October 9th: 10 to 5pm, Opening: 6 to 10pm
October 10th: 10 to 6pm, Book Signing: 4 to 630pm
"The actual CAROLINE BERGONZI CREATIVE ODYSSEY is there to testify for the exuberant merits of this inexhaustible source of talent," said Jan Van Alphen.
Fourteen years ago, Caroline Bergonzi moved to NYC and was profoundly struck by the Gothic revival. She recently met with Al Orensanz and the project emerged, as if meant to be, a retrospective and book launch, with one hundred pieces including the 39 foot-long "Apocalypse" and her latest steel "Phoenix series," presented by Shiho Tanaka and other Butoh dancers of the Vangeline Theater.
Authenticity has always ruled Bergonzi's life. Freedom made it unpredictable. Attached to her Principality and lineage, she prefers being anonymous in big cities. Artistically gifted from a young age, she acquired entrepreneurial tools in Paris before starting all over in New York. She swapped her cerebral perspective for a true experience of being alive, recorded and shared it through her paintings, sculptures and portraits.
Being true to her instincts paid off. Her "Hero's Cycle" series represented the Principality at the World Expo in Shanghai. The originality and quality of her work, and her unusual journey, chronicled by press and TV, have made her a celebrity in Monaco.
"I cannot find a more interesting subject than life itself, motions and emotions, or a better subject than human beings, our unlimited collective mind and shared universal symbols," states Bergonzi.
Perpetual explorer, Bergonzi intuitively draws from both science and spirituality. Life is all about energy, rhythm, flux and transformation. Mirroring her own contradictions, she seeks resolution through art, from confrontation to liberation. "Only then can I play and create, and finally clear my mind of unnecessary noise."
From her lifetime passion for the human mind and her credo that "art can heal," Bergonzi ultimately envisions starting a creativity-focused foundation, an interface for dialogue where "magic" will be studied scientifically, processed and delivered to the world.
2012
Tuesday, October 2 - Saturday, October 6 - 266 W. 37th St. (between 7th & 8th Ave.) New York, NY
Opening Reception:
Tuesday, October 2, 6 - 9 pm
With the artist and Butoh Dance by Soloist Shiho Tanaka
Closing Reception
Saturday, October 6, 1 - 3 pm
With the artist and Butoh Dance by Soloist Shiho Tanaka
Essentials serves as the kickoff to a very busy month for Caroline Bergonzi. Following the exhibition, Bergonzi will launch her book Caroline Bergonzi Creative Odyssey and hold a second solo exhibition in the Lower East Side titled Revelations. This series of events marks an emergence from 15 years of relative silence while Bergonzi has lived in New York. Essentials features work representative of Bergonzi's spirit and vision, with the color red of blood, powerful symbol of energy and life. The works include a triptych painting and metal sculpture both about texture and movement with a strong graphic quality.
Artist's Bio:
Caroline Bergonzi grew up under the blue Mediterranean sky in the principality of Monaco. After 17 years in this peaceful and international state, she moved to Paris to acquire the tools, she judged necessary to obtain her freedom. In parallel to the challenges of business school and postgraduate studies in fashion management, she was active and blossomed in such creatively diverse environments as video games (IN VIVO) and Parisian Haute Couture (Christian Lacroix). Some exams and missions later, especially in China and in Italy, she chose New York as her home, for its human masses, its rhythms, and its mosaic of cultures. The brutal reality of this new urban and metal environment encouraged her in a deeper immersion in empiric philosophy, psychology and spirituality. As the angel of the movie "Wings of Desire" she swapped her cerebral perspective for a true experience of being alive, encountering a full gamut of emotions ranging from fear to love, through loneliness, joy, pain, pleasure and inner peace. She recorded them, expressed them, and shared them through her artwork - paintings, sculptures, portraits.
Caroline Bergonzi spends most of her time at her Creative Laboratory, CREALAB LLC., in Greenwich Village, New York.
2010
CAROLINE BERGONZI MONACO
The gallery L’ENTREPÔT and the Association des Monégasques de l’Etranger present
A very personal reading of THE APOCALYPSE of Saint John by CAROLINE BERGONZI
at L’ENTREPÔT: 22, rue de Millo - MC 98000 Monaco - Tel. (+377) 93 30 01 17.
Press preview with the artist on March 23rd & 24th, 3 to 7pm.
Opening to public : March 25th, 7 to 10pm.
Exhibition from March 25 to May 8, 2010.
Gallery hours : Tuesdays to Saturdays, 3 to 7pm.
In this millennium transition, we can feel a collective obsession of the various « end of the world » predictions: Nostradamus, the Mayan calendar and recently « 2012 ».
The New York based Monegasque artist Caroline Bergonzi will soon reveal a 12 meter long painting, inspired on the Apocalypse of St John. The series is composed of 12 independent but interrelated paintings that feature angels, dragons, celestial battles and much more. The artist was moved by this rich source of symbols and images depicted in the text : once again, her works revolve around a spiritual and universal concept.
In this new work of art, one can find the characteristics of her recognisable style: the powerful curves, the organic forms, the fluid movement, and especially vivid colors. In term of style, they offer a blend of genres : Italian classicism, American pop art and a touch of surrealism, reminescent of Max Ernst or de Chirico.
In addition to this featured series, the visitors will discover selected sculptures in bronze and in steel.
For more information, visit: http://www.carolinebergonzi.com.
L’ENTREPOT: Daniel BOERI + (0)6 28 06 75 86
dboeri@libello.com / www.lentrepot-monaco.com
L’ASSOCIATION DES MONEGASQUES DE L ETRANGER
Jean-Laurent Terrazzoni +377.97.77.61.16 - Le Victoria 13 Bd Princesse Charlotte 98000 Monaco
admin@mcetranger.org / www.monegasquesaletranger.org
2010
HARVESTWORKS EVENT
596 Broadway #602 New York City (at Houston St)
Thursday January 7, 2010, 7PM, Free
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Press Contact: Carol Parkinson 212-431-1130 x 1
Jenny Vogel / Caroline Chen & Caroline Bergonzi
Harvestworks is pleased to present multi-media artists Jenny Vogel, Caroline Chen, and Caroline Bergonzi. Jenny Vogel will present The Cruelty of Pirates, a story of low-resolution encounters that offers an intimate reading of contemporary loneliness. Live-streaming video projections in the stutter-step language of web cams result in a display of light signals that suggest an unknown code, some unknown message. Caroline Chen & Caroline Bergonzi will present Star Dust; black-and-white paintings created by Caroline Bergonzi that are transformed into animated, 3-dimensional digital renderings. Caroline Chen created music according to her visual perception of these renderings.
Jenny Vogel (born in Germany, 1975) lives in New York and North Texas. She works in video, photography and computer arts. Vogel’s art explores the world as viewed through new media technology using web-cameras, blogs and Google searches as source material. She received her MFA from Hunter College (NYC) in 2003. She is a 2005 NYFA fellow in Computer Arts and is currently an Assistant Professor of New Media Art in the College of Visual Arts and Design at the University of North Texas. Her work has been screened and exhibited in group and solo- shows in numerous locations and galleries: San Francisco Camerawork, CA; Arnolfini, UK; The Siberia Biennial, Russia; The Swiss Institute, NYC; EFA Gallery, NYC; Kunstwerke, Berlin; PS1 Contemporary Art Center, NYC.
Caroline Chen is a music theorist and electronic music composer. Her works focus on sound/timbre in itself: sounds taken from daily life or nature become the sources of her compositions, as well as computer-generated material. Her inspiration comes from imagined, abstract landscapes transformed into sonic objects in time and space. She has presented her works in concert in such spaces as the Julliard School of Music and the Computer Music Center at Columbia University. She is currently working on her PhD in music theory at Columbia University. She has also attended summer workshops and courses in computer music at IRCAM (Paris) and the Centre Acanthes (Metz). As a music theorist, she has presented her research at conferences in the US and Europe. She has also toured Western Europe as a cellist.
Caroline Bergonzi is a SoHo-based visual artist who has a passion for human mechanisms and thinks in terms of energy and flow. Her interests include philosophy, spirituality and psychology, as well as the elegant movements and rhythms of Kung-Fu and Tango. She interprets life through archetypes. Her daily inspiration comes from myths, movies, books, dreams and empirical experience. She uses a spectrum of curves and shapes, which always involve abstraction even when they suggest human form: circles, cocoons in squares, etc. She expresses a range of feelings and endlessly scrapes away layers to get beyond illusions. In her 2008 solo show of black-and-white works, the dynamic movements of lines, curves, and shapes transmit the contrast and harmony of the yin-yang spirit, the circle of life, fusion, and transformation. Currently, she expresses her concepts through different art forms such as bronze and welded sculptures, and portrait paintings.
About Harvestworks – www.harvestworks.org
Harvestworks is a non-profit arts center in Lower Manhattan. Private funding for our programs has been provided by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Jerome Foundation, the Mary Flagler Charitable Trust, the New York State Music Fund, the James E. Robison Foundation, New York Community Trust, the Carnegie Corporation, the Aaron Copland Fund, the Greenwall Foundation, the Edwards Foundation Arts Fund, the Trust for Mutual Understanding, Materials for the Arts, the Experimental TV Center and mediaThe foundation Inc. Public Support is provided by New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and the NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs. Thanks to our Friends Circle, Cycling74, Digidesign, Inc. and NHT Pro.
2009
BONELLI EAGLES PROJECT
PROJECT : Eco Parade International Project, 55 eagles, 55 sponsors, 55 art works. Opening June 6th, public exhibition June to October, auction sale October 10th by Sotheby’s. Profits to the Prince Albert Foundation for the planet preservation.
CONCEPT : When asked to “dress the eagle with magic”, with the Prince Albert Foundation cause in mind, Caroline Bergonzi immediately thought about returning to the roots, the spiritual relationship to Mother Nature. The New York based artist knows that, to the Natives, the Eagle represents The Great Spirit, a messenger between Heaven and Earth. The reference she chose, to realize 65 hours’ artwork onto the Great Spirit Eagle, is an ancient yet modern graphic representation of Pacific Northwest culture. Sharp lines, on the front of the sculpture, raw paint strokes – in reflection to the violence of the Human treatments to environment, and complex fluid design, symbolic of the Sky. The finishing touch of airbrush, impeccable varnish and very subtle red sparkle - borrowed from the automobile techniques- orient the debate to the contemporary situation, not only about the men who used to worship Nature, but to nature in general.
SPONSOR : M1 Group, via Mister El-Solh, Honorary Consul of Lebanon in Monaco.
OPENING : June 6th, 2009. From the photos above, 1 to 8, the one photo published in the local newspaper, about the event, Monaco Matin, Caroline Bergonzi and SAS Prince Albert of Monaco, with Bernard Fautrier, VP and CEO of The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, with Stephane Valeri, President of the Monaco Conseil National, with her sister and a friend, and with several participating artists.
EXHIBITION : All summer, the 55 eagles were displayed in Monaco, mainly concentrated around the casino gardens, for the many visitors to discover.
AUCTION SALE : October 10th, C.Bergonzi’s Eagle statue was auctioned for 14,000 euros (20,000 dollars) at the SOTHEBY’S sale, charity for the foundation of Prince Albert of Monaco. The sale happened on Saturday October 10th, at the Monaco Grimaldi Forum, in presence of Kevin Cosner.
THANKS : Many thanks to Angela VanWright, Sylvia Powers and Doris Wilhelm, from Eco Parade International, to Mister El-Solh, and Celia Bloch, for selecting and sponsoring my project, to Ludovic @ Choba Studio, for his technical support, to Francisco del Campo-Wright, for his portrait, to Yann Masson, for the highlight, and to my mother for her unconditional love, courage and support.
2008
"FROM SCRATCH" AT ARIUM, NYC
PHILIP PELUSI PRESENTS CAROLINE BERGONZI NEW ART WORK "FROM SCRATCH" AT ARIUM - MAY 1 to 31, 2008Open to the public until May 31, 2008
12-6pm Tuesdays through Sundays
Arium, 31 Little West 12th Street, between 9th Avenue & Washington Street
Call Caroline Chen (646) 338.8124 to request a private viewing with the artist. Donation of part
of the sales to the Rubin Museum and Tibet House in support of Himalayan art & culture.
Caroline Bergonzi has re-envisioned a healing process of a traditional mandala that leads to wisdom and purity of the soul. I believe that the premiere of « From Scratch » exhibition has connected 300 people to each other. The exceptional musical performance of Fernando Otero, playing as a Buddhist monk would chant and invoke deities, only increased the Mandalas transmission of vivid and positive energies in a wide open space that suddenly symbolized the universe. The artworks is being sold and dispersed in many different places in the world, but I suspect they will remain as a whole, a network of powerful shells, interconnecting people, and helping them to explore their own creative journey.
- Jean-Philippe Rebuffet, Gallery Systems
About the May 1 art opening:
Last Thursday, CAROLINE BERGONZI, New York based Monaco artist, revealed her last series of paintings to a beautiful, cosmopolite and enthusiastic crowd of over 300 people, from all cultural & professional backgrounds.
Attendees included artists ERIC SUI, DREW TAL, SAM ROBERTSON, ERIC LAVERTY, diplomats JOHANNES DE MILLO AND VALERIE BRUELL-MELCHIOR from the Monaco Mission of the UN and JOSIANE LAI from the Taipei Cultural Center, psychologists SHAWN & SARAH CARSON, architects DANIEL LAPORTE and PIERRE ALBERT WINTER, writers DAVID GIBSON and JEAN PHILIPPE REBUFFET, musicians DOROTHY WU, CAROLINE CHEN, and supporters of the arts JAVIER NASELLI, CHRISTOPHER MISSLING, KATHLEEN KENNEDY, EDGAR BANDERA, AARON ROTHCHILD, MICHEL HAGENAAR & MILAN JEVIC.
Argentinian composer FERNANDO OTERO, on the grand piano, and violinist NICK DANIELSON, completed delighting the guests with a powerful and passionate duo.
Photos by Patrick McMullan and on http://www.carolinebergonzi.com, the artist website.
About the show & art work:
After years of painting symbolic images with a recuring concentric effect, of circles in squares and squares in circles, CAROLINE BERGONZI decided to explore the concept of mandalas, the intriguing traditional images known especially as a Tibetan art, where they are made of colorful sand and infinite patience.
FROM SCRATCH is her own new, spiritual and graphic exploration through illusions, beauty and other ornaments, towards authenticity and pure power, as she limits her palette to black (on white). Opposites meet, spar and clash. FROM SCRATCH also refers to the wide range of techniques she uses: black acrylic and Chinese ink, treated in thick or transparent layers, smoothly brushed or scratched with a pointy knife.
About the artist, CAROLINE BERGONZI:
STATEMENT and BIO of the Soho based Monaco artist.
About Arium:
ARIUM is a hybrid concept space in the Meatpacking District brought to life by cutting-edge business entrepreneur and avid arts philanthropist PHILIP PELUSI. At once an art gallery, screening room, cafe, winebar, design studio/salon, and event space, ARIUM is a vortex for an array of artistic mediums. Within the walls of an elegant, loft-like space, the worlds of film, fashion design, visual art, and musical performance fuse to share appreciations and birth new inspirations. Visit www.ariumnyc.com.
About the music :
FERNANDO OTERO is the performer and composer BERGONZI chose to invite, with tango (and NYC Ballet) violinist NICK DANIELSON, for the splendid rawness of their music, as they are one of her main inspirations. “Fernando Otero is one of the most intense, present and passionate people I have ever met. His music never fails to infiltrate my mind, my heart, and awaken a storm of emotions.” OTERO, whose new album “Pagina De Buenos Aires” (Nonesuch) was hailed by The New York Times as “a heroically ambitious tango record, with a scope that reaches beyond the usual connotations of the style” is known for his deeply sensitive and challenging tango music and improvisations, which also involve aspects of classical chamber music and jazz. Visit www.fernandootero.com.
Contacts:
31 Little West 12th Street - (between 9th Ave & Washington St) - New York, NY 10014.
Email : info@ariumnyc.com - Website : http://www.ariumnyc.com.
CAROLINE BERGONZI :
Website : http://www.carolinebergonzi.com.
2007
L GALLERY STUDIO
Caroline Bergonzi shows seven years of paintings in a solo show in the 2,500 square feet L Gallery Studio in Tribeca, September 23rd – October 1st, 2007 – 104, Reade Street, NYC.
A fresh and quietly spectacular show of 22 paintings with a projected animation made from raw drawings accompanied by contemporary music composer Daniel Iglesia is on view at L Gallery from September 23 to October 1 at L Gallery Tribeca. The exhibit has already attracted immediate attention with an interview by the Monaco TV team. Also, the work, which examines alternative operations between drawing and painting probing dark yet bright psycho-sexual corners of the human psyche, has made an initial splash with many artists, curators, designers, and art dealers such as Pietro Franesi, director of the New York Art Biennale, Sebastien Le Pelletier, founder ofMundo Art, Andrew MacNair, architect and professor at Columbia, Elizabeth Cho, art consultant, Leonid Gervitz, artist and professor at the Art Students League; artists : Lance Rautzhan, Pierre Folliet, Antoinette Torrens , Ezra Talmach, Antonio Faville, reknown choregrapher Jermaine Browne, movie makers Guy Shahar; fashion artists : Franky L’Official, Benoit Poirier d’Ambreville, Roland Peralta; composers & musicians : Caroline Chen, Patricia Alessandrini, Aaron Friedman, founder of The New York Music festival, Ed Benneth, founder of VH1; and compatriots : Johannes de Millo, from the Monaco Mission at the United Nations, and Mme&Mr Chiappori, both Professors at Columbia University.
CAROLINE BERGONZI PROFILE
Caroline Bergonzi is currently the only painter from the Principality of Monaco to be based in the New York. Her art studio is in Soho. She is known in NY for her success in fashion, as a luxury stylist, for having worked with international publications (Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Zink, etc.), in upscale advertising, and as fashion director for Trump magazine in 2005 and 2006. She has also designed CD covers, costumes, jewelry, and illustrated Randolph Duke’s new best seller “the look.” She has also participated in several avant-guard events, including Lunatarium (Dumbo) in 2002 and 2003.
Caroline Bergonzi Style. An encounter of mind and body, her work shows both an extreme sensuality, through her mastery of curves and colors, and her obsessive interest in the human mind, psychology, symbols and archetypes. She is continuously pushing her techniques and renewing her style.
Caroline Bergonzi statement. She believes that art can heal. She embraces the mission to incarnate inspiration, sensuality and freedom. “My art is both a daily exploration within of the mystery and an act of love.” She paints to symbolically represent the “invisible”, feelings and thoughts, to show, share, and inspire. The images come from within, and allow a heart to heart communication. Through her work, she wants to invite the viewers to open themselves up to dream, trust, feel and play.
Truly committed to inspire those who are willing to explore their own creative journeys, Caroline Bergonzi took the challenge and allowed non-artists to transform their stress into creativity in 90 minutes. So she designed and organized a workshop, which took place last December in Soho. This pilot program was an immediate success. Its playfulness turned out to be extremely effective (visit www.myartattack.com). Caroline is looking for the right partners to share this vision and further develop this project.
The “CAROLINE BERGONZI CREATIVE LABORATORY” represents the vast array of Caroline Bergonzi’s activities, all related to ART and CREATIVITY, through the exploration of various techniques. The artist is based in Monaco and shares her time with her Manhattan art studio, in Greenwich Village. Her 3D sculpture activities are described on www.carolinebergonzi.com and her 2D painting activities on www.atelierbergonzi.com. All copyrights on the arts, photos, website, and texts belong to their author, Caroline Bergonzi, and CREALAB LLC. Contact: email her at : STUDIO@CAROLINEBERGONZI.COM, or leave a message at this # : (+1) 212 592 4500.