• Relic ( Rush to Relics ) - Image 1
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Alfonse Pagano

Relic ( Rush to Relics )

Relic ( Rush to Relics )

€4.220,38 EUR
€4.220,38 EUR
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Edition
This evocative installation, "Relic (Rush To Relics)," presents three American flags rendered in soft fabric, their vertical hang dramatically conveying a sense of aged wear. Each flag is meticulously tattered, with torn and frayed edges that speak volumes. The stars and stripes, though still recognizable, bear the marks of significant degradation, their once vibrant colors softened by time and circumstance. This piece is a powerful statement within an ongoing series, offering a poignant commentary on the state of democracy. The deliberate deconstruction of these familiar symbols invites contemplation on themes of decay, resilience, and the enduring spirit of patriotism. The focus remains solely on the flags, allowing their distressed beauty and symbolic weight to command your attention. This medium-sized artwork would be a striking addition to any space, sparking conversation and reflection.

Artwork Details

Artist:
Alfonse Pagano
Artist Gallery:
View all works by Alfonse Pagano
Year Created:
2017
Dimensions:
28 × 72 × 16in
Edition:
Original 1/1
Style:
Pagano’s three suspended flags hit the eye as a vertical column of blackened blue, faded cream, and weathered red against the white wall. The fabric is shredded into ribbons and tatters, and the frayed edges, loose threads, and collapsed seams give the surface a raw, tactile density that replaces monumentality with ruin. The composition is spare and frontal, with the three forms hung close together so that the repeated stripes and stars read as a single distressed field. The work stands in direct conversation with postwar assemblage and the American flag works of Jasper Johns, while pushing that lineage into a more physically corroded, politically charged register.
Tags:
assemblage,american flag,political art,textile sculpture,patina,decay,frayed fabric,postwar american art,red white and blue,installation

About Alfonse Pagano

Alfonse Pagano creates original artwork available to collect on Art Emerge, an AI-powered marketplace for artists and collectors.

Born in 1951 in Paterson, New Jersey, into a third-generation Italian American family. Paterson was gritty, vibrant, and full of contradictions—elements that continue to shape how He sees and make art. Raised by a single mother who saw his creative spark early, He was given freedom to explore. By fourteen, He knew art wasn’t a hobby—it was a path. Though He studied briefly at the School of Visual Arts, He is mostly self-taught. Alfonse learned by making, reading, and working with others—most memorably, Len Lye in the early ’70s. His energy and commitment left a mark. Alfonse has had many studios the first one was above Beacon Paints on the corner of Amsterdam and 78 Street.

Artist Statement

I began somewhere in the late 1960s, working with cardboard, photographs, and found images—early attempts to understand and organize my world, to hold a fragment of landscape, memory, and human presence as a visual object.. Even then, what mattered to me was not only what the object became, but the act of altering it: cutting, burning, layering, erasing, and rebuilding. The action itself carried as much weight as the final form.I have allways divided my time between painting and sculpture and the combining of the two.

Selected Highlights

  • All Politics Are Local, Jackson Junge Gallery, Chicago, IL
  • Rituals and Identity, Ann Street Gallery, Newburgh, NY
  • Dreads, WBGO Gallery, Newark, NJ
  • Dreads, Paterson Museum, Paterson, NJ
  • Dreads, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT

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