For her fourth solo exhibition with the gallery, Accord, the American artist Barbara Bloom presents a new body of works created especially for the space at Via Stradella 7. This project stems from a reflection on the concept of “accord” as a pivotal moment where tensions are suspended and a glimpse of harmony becomes possible.
With her unique approach, intertwining visual storytelling and multi-layered meanings, Bloom invites the viewer to explore narratives of human connection, spanning across time and dimension. The exhibition centers around images of historical places where accords, treaties, alliances, and truces were made, as well as moments of cultural elevation and symbolic collaborations. These events are ones where individuals gathered, overcoming personal interests, and worked together to create synergies, transforming into powerful symbols of new beginnings.
The exhibition starts with the oldest documented peace treaty, signed in 1250 BC between the Egyptians and the Hittites, and moves through historical moments such as the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, which ended World War I, and the 1993 negotiations to end Apartheid. However, Bloom does not confine herself to documented history: the exhibition also includes moments of pure imagination, such as an unlikely gathering of iconic figures from the past and present – Jesus, Émile Zola, Nefertiti, and Amy Winehouse – gathered around a gaming table. This visionary dialogue challenges the boundaries between reality and imagination, suggesting how accord and harmony remain universal aspirations, even in the most improbable contexts.
The works on display transform these extraordinary events into starting points for a greater reflection. In some works, the figures seem to cast shadows on the walls and floor, almost suggesting an absent presence. In others, the scenes appear to detach from the two-dimensional level, sliding into real space as three-dimensional objects or furnishings. These visual effects engage the viewer in an immersive experience, destabilizing the boundaries between representation and reality.
Barbara Bloom’s artistic practice has developed a working method of zeroing in on subjects, savoring all kinds of detours, until an artworks takes form. The process is an eclectic combination of study and pure intuition. Absence and its representation are central themes in her artistic research. Through shadows and traces, Bloom explores the boundary between the visible and the invisible, which she defines as “visual innuendo.” Additionaly, she investigates the porous relationship between the second and third visual dimensions, wondering if we can experience an image as though it has willed itself off the two-dimensional plane and into a room, like a kind of reverse rendering.
Accord highlights the artist’s urgent investigation to identify enduring signs of positive human efforts in a complex historical era, offering a powerful and visually evocative reflection on humanity’s desire for connection and harmony in a journey that spans the past, present, and imagination.
