C B @ A R I U M > P R E S SR E L E A S E

* FOR IMMEDIATE RELASE *
New York, NY – May 8, 2008

PHILIP PELUSI PRESENTS CAROLINE BERGONZI NEW ART WORK
"FROM SCRATCH" AT ARIUM - MAY 1 to 31, 2008
A BLACK ON WHITE STUDY OF THE MANDALA

Open 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 www.artofmyheart.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 : STATEMENT + BIOGRAPHY.

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 and www.nickdanielson.com.

Contacts:

ARIUM : PEGI, Director – T: (212) 463 8630 – F: (212) 463 4371
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 :
PR Contact: Caroline Chen – C: (646) 338 8124 – T: (212) 388 1415
Emails: carolinechen8@gmail.com, carolinebergonzi@gmail.com
Website : http://www.artofmyheart.com
Studio : 64, MacDougal street, Apt. 2 (cross with Houston) – New York, NY 10012

MUSICIANS : Visit www.fernandootero.com and www.nickdanielson.com

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Show May 1 to 31, at ARIUM.

MANTRA. Acrylic on canvas. 36"x36"

CAROLINE BERGONZI

FERNANDO OTERO & NICK DANIELSON

PHILIP PELUSI & CAROLINE BERGONZI