Bruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to present Long Takes, the second solo show of the artist Maria Antonietta Mameli.

A conceptual extension of the artist’s first project, Human Observations, Mameli has furthered her process of photographing passersby from the Manhattan Bridge—the figures in true scale as seen from her vantage point, their surroundings completely eliminated by the artist. For her recent project, Mameli has chosen to hone in on specific characters on the streets below. She follows these individuals as they go about their daily lives enacting particular tasks—moving a mattress, pushing an overloaded dolly, or carrying balloons. Her works create an almost cinematic narrative as the figures progress in their task, but remain frozen at the center of each composition. Mameli’s Long Take #1 follows an old woman as she shuffles slowly toward a trash can, the same subject Mameli observed in her first series nearly three years earlier.

Long Takes is a moving series. Mameli’s attention to these anonymous city dwellers captured in minute proportion, unaware of the artist’s observation while engaged in their individual lives, forces the viewer to consider his or her own small place, inspiring a somewhat humorous but also sobering response. Mameli makes the particular universal.

Maria Antonietta Mameli will have a solo show of her work at the Museo Marino Marini, Florence, Italy April 14, 2011 – June 4 2011. A catalog will be produced in conjunction with the exhibition, featuring an essay by Vicki Goldberg.