Redrawing The Line Between Gallery And Cafe
by Heather Mayer
For Amelie Mancini, whose paintings are currently in the Smith Hanten windows, getting work out of her studio is reason enough to display it in unconventional places.
“It can be interesting to bring the art to [people] in places outside of the art world, like stores, restaurants and subway stations,” she said. “Is [art] important for the community? I imagine so…The way I see it is, I’d rather have the work out of my studio than in my studio.”
by Heather Mayer
For Amelie Mancini, whose paintings are currently in the Smith Hanten windows, getting work out of her studio is reason enough to display it in unconventional places.
“It can be interesting to bring the art to [people] in places outside of the art world, like stores, restaurants and subway stations,” she said. “Is [art] important for the community? I imagine so…The way I see it is, I’d rather have the work out of my studio than in my studio.”
Discussion with CCR's Tom Jory on painting the 'Sacrebleu!' series (excerpts):
On ballparks:
The stadium, the bright colors, the crowd, the sun setting over everything. It's a stage of sorts and I think it's very beautiful.
On ballplayers:
It’s really the idea that athletes in general, but baseball players in particular, are our own modern gods and heroes, our own modern mythology. I believe that we’re still interested in the same things that interested the Greeks and men before the Greeks, and that will keep on interesting the men of the future. These guys are better than us, faster and stronger and their lives are fascinating. They pushing the limits of what’s humanly possible. Hence the immortal stone, the marble, the flowers, the arches, all these elements that are not from the world of baseball per se, but that belong more to a classical, maybe more European, universe.
On ballparks:
The stadium, the bright colors, the crowd, the sun setting over everything. It's a stage of sorts and I think it's very beautiful.
On ballplayers:
It’s really the idea that athletes in general, but baseball players in particular, are our own modern gods and heroes, our own modern mythology. I believe that we’re still interested in the same things that interested the Greeks and men before the Greeks, and that will keep on interesting the men of the future. These guys are better than us, faster and stronger and their lives are fascinating. They pushing the limits of what’s humanly possible. Hence the immortal stone, the marble, the flowers, the arches, all these elements that are not from the world of baseball per se, but that belong more to a classical, maybe more European, universe.
Root, root, root for this French painter and her baseball obsession
by Aaron Short
"The Yankees may be out of the postseason, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy a little baseball — in a Greenpoint art gallery. Artist Amelie Mancini will open a new solo show, Sacrebleu! Napoleon Would Have Made A Fine Shortstop, featuring nostalgic portraits of New York baseball players at Yashar Gallery in the ground floor of her Greenpoint Avenue studio on Nov. 2. Mancini, born in France, but now a native Brooklynite, began painting Hall of Famers after attending a Mets game at the old Shea Stadium a few years ago and becoming “actively obsessed” with the sport and its history. (...)"
by Aaron Short
"The Yankees may be out of the postseason, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy a little baseball — in a Greenpoint art gallery. Artist Amelie Mancini will open a new solo show, Sacrebleu! Napoleon Would Have Made A Fine Shortstop, featuring nostalgic portraits of New York baseball players at Yashar Gallery in the ground floor of her Greenpoint Avenue studio on Nov. 2. Mancini, born in France, but now a native Brooklynite, began painting Hall of Famers after attending a Mets game at the old Shea Stadium a few years ago and becoming “actively obsessed” with the sport and its history. (...)"
For love of the game
by Holly Tsang
"Mancini’s "something exceptional" might just be the seven portraits of baseball legends Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Jackie Robinson, Ty Cobb, Harvey Haddix, Sandy Koufax and Tom Seaver. (...) Though the paintings feature something as admittedly everyday as baseball, they stir up a feeling of nostalgia for the America of the 1930s through 1960s, America’s Golden Age as seen by a European living in America. (...) “Baseball engages us deeply and evokes ancient feelings the Greeks were already dealing with,” she said. “Our emotions are played out on the field. It goes on all through spring and summer, ends in fall, and then begins again.”
by Holly Tsang
"Mancini’s "something exceptional" might just be the seven portraits of baseball legends Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Jackie Robinson, Ty Cobb, Harvey Haddix, Sandy Koufax and Tom Seaver. (...) Though the paintings feature something as admittedly everyday as baseball, they stir up a feeling of nostalgia for the America of the 1930s through 1960s, America’s Golden Age as seen by a European living in America. (...) “Baseball engages us deeply and evokes ancient feelings the Greeks were already dealing with,” she said. “Our emotions are played out on the field. It goes on all through spring and summer, ends in fall, and then begins again.”
'Sacrebleu!' Just in Time for the World Series
by Bibeka Shrestha
Mancini's series of paintings reflects a uniquely French perspective of baseball. Her own love for the sport came during her exploration of American culture after immigrating a few years ago. “Baseball is the essentially American sport,” said Mancini, now a Mets fan. (...) Babe Ruth bats beneath a grotesque mask, time stops as a baseball is suspended in mid-air next to Maris’s forlorn gaze, Robinson smiles above fiery red marble, and the doors of fame are firmly shut to Harvey Haddix as he earnestly throws a pitch. (...) Like many of Mancini’s paintings, the construction of space is defined more by color than by the traditional perspective. Serious themes mingle comfortably with the playful.
by Bibeka Shrestha
Mancini's series of paintings reflects a uniquely French perspective of baseball. Her own love for the sport came during her exploration of American culture after immigrating a few years ago. “Baseball is the essentially American sport,” said Mancini, now a Mets fan. (...) Babe Ruth bats beneath a grotesque mask, time stops as a baseball is suspended in mid-air next to Maris’s forlorn gaze, Robinson smiles above fiery red marble, and the doors of fame are firmly shut to Harvey Haddix as he earnestly throws a pitch. (...) Like many of Mancini’s paintings, the construction of space is defined more by color than by the traditional perspective. Serious themes mingle comfortably with the playful.
