Cad. Eva americana 1966

Curator: Standing before us is Aldo Mondino’s striking mixed-media work, “Cad. Eva americana,” completed in 1966. Editor: My first impression is of playful chaos, a sort of vibrant energy trying to escape a defined boundary. It's quite gestural, almost frenetic. Curator: Precisely. Mondino masterfully employs color and line here. Observe how the acrylic paint is applied—swirling masses punctuated by geometric interventions. The line work dances around the central form. What do you make of the "Eva" in the title? Editor: "Eva", of course, is Eve, the primordial woman. Considering the energetic chaos, and the definite imposition of lines and blocks on top, it speaks of constraint, of forcing something wild into an order, something that reflects patriarchal imposition upon women perhaps. Even that horizontal line evokes a sense of being blocked out, censored. Curator: That’s a compelling reading! I'd suggest focusing on Mondino’s deliberate disruptions of the painted surface, disrupting any stable reading. These calculated gestures create an essential visual tension. Editor: Absolutely, but isn’t that tension reflective of Eve’s myth itself? Born into paradise, yet forever linked with the knowledge that ejected her kind? It plays to the ambivalent symbols inherent in being born into western societies. And given the work’s date, surely Mondino was cognizant of the radical socio-political shifts and the role of the modern woman in the mid-sixties? Curator: A valid point. Mondino’s selection of "Eva Americana" in particular adds a cultural layer. The “American Eve” hints at interpretations linked to contemporary ideals. Editor: To take it back to the artwork, note the bare white background! The blank space only emphasizes how truly contained and sparse any attempts to let the artwork breath ultimately are! Curator: And how Mondino strategically utilizes blankness serves as a structural element to sharpen our view. Editor: Well, whatever Mondino's definitive intentions here may be, he has ensured the "Cad. Eva Americana" continues to compel. Curator: Indeed. An exercise in compositional forces and an intriguing use of symbols.