Known for compositions of intricately layered hand-cut works on paper, Francesca Gabbiani uncovers overlooked, psychic landscapes, wherein nature and urbanization collide. Utilizing materials such as paper, airbrush, and mixed media washes, Gabbiani’s paintings pair references to flora and fauna, film and literature with her own photographic documentation of environments in disastrous, damaged, and regenerative states.
Inspired by a variety of sources, Gabbiani’s themes of ambiguity and ornamentation, the ominous and the fantastic result in psychoactive landscapes rich in allegorical imagery. Throughout Gabbiani’s oeuvre, dreamlike settings capture precarious moments between humanity and the natural world, reflecting the symbiotic coexistence of destruction and renewal.
Spontaneity is hugely important for me. Often, I’m drawn to make a certain image in a very instinctual way, almost like a dream state. I like to get extremely focused on detail and then draw back and let it explode a bit. I like to learn something about my image and then unlearn it.
– Francesca Gabbiani
Francesca Gabbiani (b. 1965 in Montreal, Canada) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Selected solo exhibitions include Wilding Cran Gallery, Los Angeles (2023), Cedric Bardawil Gallery, London (2023), Mixografia, Los Angeles (2022), Monica De Cardenas (20201 Milan, Italy & 2020 Zuoz, Switzerland), and film screenings at the Malibu International Film Festival, Los Angeles (2023, awarded Best Experimental Short); Gagosian Gallery, Beverly Hills at San Vicente Bungalows (2022); and the Getty Center, Los Angeles (2022). Selected group exhibitions include Kunsthaus Centre d’Art Pasquart, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland (2023), the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2022); Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles (2022); Kunsthaus Zurich (2021); KANAL Centre Pompidou, Brussels (2020); Hauser & Wirth, Los Angeles (2018); Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MAMCO), Geneva (2016), and the Underground Museum (2014). Her work is included in the collections of the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles; National Collection, Switzerland; and the Yale University Art Gallery, among others.
