Carmen Novaco

CV

Carmen Novaco was born in Portici in 1948, daughter of a naval officer and a teacher.

From a young age she showed a strong artistic propensity but preferred to direct her studies and he subsequent profesional career to teaching, a formative expertise whose trace is found in a playful aspect strongly present in her works. For educational purposes, for her, particular importance is attached to the use of the image, through an object the initial information is more easily understood. This approach marks her autistic work. Driven by an urgent creative need she founded her company, Nova Design,, crafting microporous rubber bags, a project that gratifies the artistic thanks to a growth that sees her involved on a national and international scene. During her subsequent journeys to Europe, she deepened Russian Constructivism and became more aware of her inclination towards geometric art.

At the same time, the need to make her artistic works known does not subside. She takes care of the look of Geven, the family’s aeronautical company. Aluminum and steel panels subjected to laser cutting for the company’s production reasons, reinvented and remodeled, give rise to works of great aesthetic impact. Each aluminum or steel cut-out invites the artist to experience a creative moment of profound change she cannot renounce or do without. The use of various materials such as metal, plexiglass, wood and force allows her to range and take an interest in the two-dimensional and three-dimensional discourse, Her works are even more open to the user, inviting them to interact, so she decidds to exhibit her works. In a period when we are talking about the “land of fires”, waste and environmental issues, wight now in Nola, in the halls of Geven “waste becomes art” and her first exhibition takes shape.

In 2013, the guidelines of the Madì movement allow her to recognize herself in an art that respects her freedom of interpretation. In 2014 she is invited to exhibit, as a constructivist artist guest, at the collective exhibition “Aspetti del Madì international a Napoli”, Sala Carlo V.

Her need for knowledge, the unsatisfied curiosity and the intense research put the artist in contact with “Astractura” an artistic correct absolutely innovative and of which she shared the guidelines but also the concept of group, collaboration, opens that she has not found in other artistic currents.

Essence cubed. By Rossella Savarese. // Essenza elevata al cubo. Di Rossella Savarese

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Essence cubed. By Rossella Savarese.

“He was conscious of an uneasiness, a faintness, a weariness of his limbs, a difficulty of breathing, and an internal heat, which he was ready to attribute to the wine, the late hour, and the influence of the season”.

An uneasiness, an apprehension, a sense of exhaustion most of the time represent an revealing passage, a necessary stage in the creative process. The works on display settle and take shape in a phase in which Carmen Novaco feels the urgent need to test and share new results. The need for breakage, an internal ardour with consequent experimentation and enjoyment of what it reveals inside it. Concretely, everything originates and ends in a symbolic space. The protagonist is one of the five Platonic solids: the cube, from Platone in the Timeo conncected with the earth: “We assign a cubic figure to the earth, because it is the most immobile of the four species of bodies and the most consistent; and maximum demonstration that this solid is immobile, is proved by its very secure bases “. Works that, in line with her art, mainly show and structure her artistic path. materials are used: metal sheets and wood. The six faces of the solid capture and spread the light in a distinct way, the choice of a unique and leading element does not compromise the variety and variability. Its undisputed constructivist roots, the choice of recycled material, the technological element and the playful aspect of its beginnings considered stable bases from which to weave a dialogue from scratch. The extraordinary regularity of the solid, from whose angle or side we can know the rest, appear to be the perfect synthesis of Carmen Novaco’s profound being. A sensitive and coherent artist who, at a mature age, feels the urgent need to share her complex and interesting geometric solutions. Late for someone, at the right time of here and now for her and for the critics who are immediately interested in her work. The works in the exhibition are born from a seed, a first work: “Essence” a sculpture made with steel plates, laser cut, and subjected to a process of sandblasting and satin finishing, with lost wax process aluminum inserts. Realized in 2018 and permanently displayed in Sorrento, in S. Antonino square, one of the renowed places of the land of the mermaids. Craftsmanship and innovation blend in the work of the artist, a synthesis of a new artistic path that sees the author committed to the theme of “breaks”, a necessary and vital condition towards opening, symbolically represented by the metal edges that, with strength and determination, go beyond a concrete space, towards the new. She deeply feels the need for a constructivist memory to contrast art as a representation with art as a construction. She absorbs and makes her own the post-constructivism lesson of which at the end of 1980 we can see a remodulation of architectural relevance through de-constructivism. In her articulated and complex geometric structures, full and empty, lines and curves and balanced colours make the best use of the technologically advanced materials that she prefers like aluminium, steel, wood and plexiglas. The need to communicate through the object, the playful aspect and the involvement of the user are the junction of the content of this exhibition. Multicolored tiles in movement, bursting edges, fragments and sections, intersecting panels invite the viewer to touch with his hands, thus becoming a user and completing the work itself. In some works the displacement of the cubes allows new combinations and unexpected results, a metaphor for the principle of action and reaction. Carmen Novaco whispers to us that we can change reality through our action. Starting from the cube, a perfect synthesis of balance and stability, the repeted object- subject testifies multiplicity of profound artistic results . Carmen Novaco shows a maturity of intent, modifying bases and rules well established , she explores new artistic results confirming the uniqueness of her changing but recognizable style.

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Essenza elevata al cubo. Di Rossella Savarese

“Camminando però, sentiva un mal essere, un abbattimento, una fiacchezza di gambe, una gravezza di respiro, un’arsione interna, che avrebbe voluto attribuir solamente al vino, alla veglia, alla stagion”.

ALESSANDRO MANZONI, I promessi sposi
– capitolo XXXIII (Milano, Ferrario 1825/27).

Un malessere, una inquietudine, un senso di spossatezza il più delle volte rappresentano un epifanico passaggio, tappa ineludibile del processo creativo. Le opere presenti in mostra sedimentano e prendono forma in una fase in cui Carmen Novaco sente l’urgenza di sperimentare e condividere risultati inediti. Necessità di rottura, un’arsione interna con conseguente sperimentazione e godimento di ciò che al suo interno vi si rivela. Concretamente il tutto ha origine e fine in uno spazio simbolico. Protagonista uno dei cinque solidi platonici: il cubo, da Platone nel Timeo associato alla terra: “Alla terra noi assegniamo figura cubica, perché è la più immobile delle quattro specie di corpi e la più consistente; e dimostrazione massima che quel solido è immobile, è data dalle sue basi sicurissime”. Opere che, in linea con il suo fare artistico, presentano e strutturano maggiormente il suo percorso. I materiali impiegati: lastre in metallo e legno. Le sei facce del solido accolgono e diffondono la luce in maniera distinta, la scelta di un elemento unico e protagonista non ne compromette varietà e variabilità. Le sue indiscussi radici costruttiviste, la scelta di materiale riciclato, l’elemento tecnologico e l’aspetto ludico degli esordi quali basi stabili da cui intessere un dialogo ex-novo. La straordinaria regolarità del solido, dal cui angolo o lato possiamo conoscere il resto, appaiono sintesi perfetta dell’essere profondo di Carmen Novaco. Artista sensibile e coerente che, in età matura, avverte impellente il bisogno di condividere le sue complesse ed interessanti soluzioni geometriche. In ritardo per qualcuno, nel momento giusto del qui e ora per lei e per la critica che s’interessa sin da subito al suo lavoro. Le opere in mostra nascono da un seme, un’opera prima: “Essenza” scultura realizzata con lastre in acciaio, sezionate a laser, e sottoposta ad un processo di sabbiatura e satinatura, con inserti in alluminio a cera persa. Realizzata nel 2018 ed in permanenza a Sorrento in piazza S. Antonino, uno dei luoghi simbolo della terra delle Sirene. Maestria ed innovazione si fondono nel lavoro dell’artista, una sintesi di un nuovo percorso artistico che vede l’autrice impegnata sul tema delle “rotture”; una condizione necessaria e vitale verso l’apertura, simbolicamente rappresentata dagli spigoli metallici che, con forza e determinazione, si spingono oltre uno spazio concreto, verso il nuovo. Sente profondamente l’esigenza di costruttivista memoria di contrapporre all’arte come rappresentazione l’arte intesa come costruzione. Assorbe e rende sua la lezione post Costruttivismo e di cui sul finire del 1980 si assiste ad una rimodulazione di pertinenza architettonica attraverso il de-costruttivismo. Nelle sue articolate e complesse strutture geometriche, pieni e vuoti, linee e curve ed equilibrate cromie sfruttano le potenzialità dei materiali tecnologicamente avanzati che predilige: alluminio, acciaio, legno e plexiglas. La necessità di comunicare attraverso l’oggetto, l’aspetto ludico ed il coinvolgimento del fruitore sono lo snodo del contenuto di questa mostra. Tasselli multicolore in movimento, spigoli che irrompono, frammenti e sezioni, pannelli che s’intersecano invitano lo spettatore a toccar con mano divenendone quindi fruitore e dando compimento all’opera stessa. In alcuni lavori lo spostamento dei cubi permette nuove combinazioni e risultati inaspettati, metafora principio di azione e reazione. Possiamo mutare la realtà attraverso la nostra azione ci sussurra Carmen Novaco. Partendo dal cubo, sintesi perfetta di equilibrio e stabilità, l’ oggetto-soggetto reiterato testimonia pluralità di risultati artistici di spessore. Carmen Novaco dimostra una maturità di intenti, rimodulando basi e dettami radicati, esplora nuovi risultati artistici confermando l’unicità del suo linguaggio, mutevole ma riconoscibile.