Lyons Wier • Ortt Gallery, New York, is pleased to announce Debutant, Melodie Provenzano’s first New York solo exhibition at Lyons Wier • Ortt Gallery on view from September 5th – October 4th, 2008.

Still-life paintings of toys, figurines, and printed fabrics are the subject matter of Melodie Provenzano’s Debutant exhibition and the arrangement and iconography of these items is the crux of it. These meticulously rendered compositions allow a brief glimpse into the artist’s personal world. They function as dreamscapes that offer many interpretations based upon root emotions such as love, longing, and hope.

Set up as ‘mock dramas’, the paintings tell a tale that oscillates between fantasy and reality, accomplishment and disappointment, understanding and bewilderment. At further inspection, the works build narrative momentum as the audience assigns meaning to the portrayed objects and unravels the significance of the icons.

Deciphering each painting and drawing, the viewer begins to see the ‘bigger picture’ within the image to realize that these set-ups drawn from life actually imitate it.

Melodie Provenzano graduated with a BFA from the Parsons School of Design in 1996. She currently lives and works in New York City.