Carol Caputo Paints Rhythms
By Rachel Somerstein
Upon entering the inaugural exhibition at World Art Gallery, the viewer is instantly relocated into "Afro-Cuban" time and space. The show, titled "The Rhythm in Me," features 15 works by Carol Caputo, all inspired by Afro-Cuban music and dance, and their rhythm flows like a visual samba of color and form.
Native New Yorker Carol Caputo enjoys a successful career in graphic
design, advertising, and fashion, and allows these influences to shine through in her art. She also draws on the rhythm and energy of New York City, the forms inspired by found objects, and the urban landscape for inspiration. Caputo’s energetic paintings demonstrate the influences of these various industries on her work.
Through Caputo’s use of color and her skilled, detailed observations of dress, the pieces in the recent exhibition evoke a natural Afro-Cuban environment. Many pieces, such as Couple #95 and Couple #30, depict both male and female forms in identifiably Latin- or flamenco- style dress. Details such as the man’s checked cap, in Couple #30, and the high heeled shoes and ruffled dresses that many of the female figures wear also ground the viewer in Caputo’s theme. Another piece, Couple #10, depicts a couple dressed in a casual, American style: a male figure in jeans dances with his partner, who wears a Swing Kids-type red dress. In Couple #30 Caputo juxtaposes these distinct cultural heritages and styles, successfully highlighting the differences between them: here, a woman with white skin in a glittery dress throws her head back with laughter, while a younger boy, with dark skin, dances beside her. These familiar cultural symbols are contrasted with Caputo’s otherwise anonymous figures in that they all lack distinct facial or physical features.
The pieces are lit from above by television lights, evoking a dance performance or competition of the kind seen in "Saturday Night Fever" or, more recently, "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights." The lighting adds another element to the excitement and energy in the gallery space. The use of television lighting dovetails with Caputo’s exploration of entertainment: the figures, all avid performers, perform for one another (and for the viewer) unabashedly. In fact, these exuberant, exhibitionist figures, particularly the female forms, in glittery, rhinestone dresses and killer heels, wouldn’t have the lighting any other way. Finally, lighting the work in this way emphasizes that the art is at the center of attention, allowing gallery goers to comfortably relax into their voyeuristic role (and to leisurely appreciate the work).
Two pieces, however, Couple #88 and Couple #70, are more private, introspective, and quiet than Caputo’s other work in the show. These pieces also explore the weightiest themes in her work shown here: love, creation, science, and the universe.
Couple #88 seems an allegory of the beginning of the world, the big bang on paper. At the heart of the piece, two intermingled figures wrap into one another; together, their bodies form a sort of conch shell. The form of the conch shell wraps into itself eternally, a symbol of infinity. The figures are similarly rendered, at once expanding into the rest of the piece and contracting into one another. Around the figures, Caputo has placed signs and symbols of creation: concentric circular forms, which resemble frogs eggs, sparks and sparklers shooting off at the viewer.
The piece explores universal concepts of love and partnership. Together, the figures form the bedrock of one another’s world, the center of the other’s universe. The artist may be sympathizing with couples for whom the family – specifically, a partnership – forms the center of one’s entire world and takes on the gravity of the universe.
With its glitzy background and pronounced dancing figures, Couple #70 serves as a bridge to the rest of Caputo’s work. Here, the artist plays with the idea of a couple’s "chemistry;" she has sketched the familiar signs and symbols of nuclear physics in the background. Again, she plays with the connection between coupledom and the creation of the world: whirling black holes surround these figures.
This collection might represent a history of dance and dance fashion or a single couple’s exploration of partnership, dance, and culture. However, the strength of Caputo’s work lies in its universality.
