313 Bowery, now Amanita, is found in the former CBGB’s – a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan’s East Village. A conversation with Caio Twombly and Leonardo Meoni
Amanita: a permanent space in New York City
Amanita’s first physical location was established in the city center of Florence. The gallery was however founded in the United States by Caio Twombly, Tommaso Rositani Suckert and Luca Zannoni. After a first exhibition in 2021, the gallery returns permanently to New York. The search for a space in Manhattan was characterized by art-historical peculiarities of the location chosen to present the works of the artists represented by Amanita.
«In October of last year, myself and Jacob Hyman co-curated The Loneliest Sport in New York; an exhibition centered around the theme of boxing, combat sports and its comparative associations to the act of painting. We visited a former synagogue/former boxing gym in SoHo and decided it was the right place. The exhibition went well and I was reminded of the charm of New York. We had always intended to open a space in the City but this experience served as a catalyst», says Caio Twombly.
The history of CBGB’s and CB’s 313 Gallery relives with Amanita
«Once we discovered 313 Bowery in early February all other options paled in comparison. It was once part of the CBGB space – a space for New York and the world’s music-culture. The opportunity to be part of CBGB’s posthumous existence is a responsibility. The location has been an inspiration for some of the artists we work with».
CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan’s East Village. The acronym stands for Country, BlueGrass, and Blues. Around the Eighties, the 313 Bowery, a storefront adjacent to CBGB’s, evolved from a record shop and café into an art gallery and a second performance space: CB’s 313 Gallery. CBGB was the home of rock and roll, punk and dance.
Johnny Rotten faced the break-up of the Sex Pistols here. The Police, Blondie and Patti Smith began their careers here. Patti Smith was the last to perform at CBGB’s on the fithteenth October 2006. After thirty-three years of activity, the club at 315 Bowery Street closed in 2006. Two years after, John Varvatos chose the space for his menswear brand. Following the succession of other fashion labels that have used the spaces of the historic club until 2021, today at the 313 Bowery one finds the name Amanita.
Contemporary art system in NYC
Having a physical location in America means to commensurate with the American art system. «The pace, excitement and proportions are enhanced in an American system. I enjoy working with American artists and clients», Twombly states.
Leonardo Meoni favors the history of American art works by Christofer Wool, Gordon Matta Clark, Rothko, Cy Twombly, Bruce Nauman and Tauba Auerbach. When asked about the likelihood of success in the US for an artist, he affirms: «it’s not possible to generalize. The American market has been more dynamic than the Italian one, and it is no coincidence that Leo Castelli is located in New York».
He continues that he believes the path of each artist is individual and the works of art are in dialogue with the context from which they emerge. «Italy remains an ‘attic’ in which elements useful for creation can be found – I am thinking of Goethe’s Grand Tour. The elements of this attic, however, must be manipulated to create new forms and each time new works that can be recognized as contemporary. I did not attend the academies of Florence and Milan, where I studied, spending more time in the studio than in the classroom. I started selling my works alone a few years ago, refusing any gallery offers until Amanita showed up».
A gallery in Manhattan reinforces the relationship Twombly has with America
From a socio-cultural and personal point of view, opening a gallery in Manhattan reinforces the personal relationship Twombly has with America, where his grandfather was from. How has the art scene evolved since the years when Cy Twombly was painting?
«The art world and the mere numbers of artists, galleries, collectors and so on has increased. My father often tells me the story of attending an exhibition of Brice Marden in the Seventies in New York, and him and his father being the only attendees. It’s difficult to discuss avant-garde since there are stratums of art styles, pinpointing the avant-garde becomes complicated».
Amanita presents Place Holder by Leonardo Meoni
Twombly talks about the first exhibition – Place Holder – with which Amanita opened its permanent space in Manhattan. «It was for us to inaugurate the space with an exhibition of one of our close artists. Leo was eager to do this show and his audacity reflects our core values. His work is distinctively ‘Italian’, and with Florence being our inspector, it made sense».
«The velvet works are visually seductive – this is a function of the medium. It is the obvious battleground within the work for me. They are bound to a sensuality – which the artist attempts to exorcize. This struggle strikes me as an Italian ordeal. The subject matter consists of artifacts being evicted from their original placement – thus the title Place Holder. This is a contemporary issue. With access to the archives of the Metropolitan Museum, and its boundless research material the combination made sense».
The choice of velvet. Where does the predilection for this fabric originate and how the artist implements a contamination between sign, often hermetic or primitive, and color.
Leonardo Meoni’s meditations on erasure and removal extend beyond the medium itself
Meoni says, «working on velvet, I do not add, as painting does historically, nor do I remove matter, as sculpture properly does, but rather I move it. I started working on velvet probably after an overdose of images. Perhaps there is too much light, too many images and too much faith in progress and global communication, too much exposure. The images in today’s cultural horizon are all easily consumable. In our culture everything that is easily readable, clear, colored, seems positive, for me it is the opposite: the ambiguous, hidden, monochrome image today is perhaps the only image that is opposed to the profusion of consumability because it denies the image itself».
For Meoni, In velvet, the image is called into question and then turned off. «The images that I choose to represent, or to delete, often come from engravings, sinopias or murals that I photograph during my travels. For the New York exhibition at Amanita, the images I have represented are from photographs of places and objects that no longer exist, which have been deleted, just like it is possible to delete an image on velvet».
A range of statues and artifacts have been willfully destroyed or damaged
Meoni’s meditations on erasure and removal extend beyond the medium itself. The content of the works concerns a range of statues and artifacts that have been willfully destroyed or damaged. This is in an attempt to rid the objects of their symbolic function. Meoni repeats large, obscured images of a Hatrene statue of King Uthal that was destroyed during a 2015 ISIS raid of The Mosul Museum in Mosul, Iraq. A Robert E Lee statue that became the focus of the deadly 2017 ‘Unite the Right’ rally in 2017 is depicted suspended in air during its subsequent removal. Elsewhere, Meoni renders bas reliefs from the ancient walls of Babylon that have been withered away by time and war.
Will velvet remain a constant feature of Meoni’s artworks? Or will the possibilities linked to this medium run out? According to the artist, «velvet is not and will by no means be the only medium I use. I already have projects in mind that will allow me to explore different media. I have been thinking about a series of sculptures. For almost a year I have been working on a couple of videos».
New digital frontiers for Amanita
Recently Amanita made its step into the Metaverse. Regarding this choice, Twombly affirms, «I believe it was Baudelaire who said that ‘great artists must be of their time’, we are trying to do the same as gallerists. We propose innovation and encourage experimentation to the artists we work with. Many ‘traditional’ artists find solace in working with a medium that emancipates them from certain expectations».
Caio Twombly
Caio Twombly is the co-director and curator of Amanita, founded in Florence, Italy in 2021. It has the mission of fostering artists from all backgrounds and nationalities at various stages of their careers. With galleries in New York and Florence they have over 10,000 square feet of exhibition space.
Leonardo Meoni
Leonardo Meoni studied at the institute of Art in Siena, the Accademia di Belle Arti of Florence, and Accademia di Belle Arti of Brera. He has participated in various solo and group exhibitions and projects in Europe, Asia, and South America.
