Katherine Mangiardi's New York solo debut explores lace through painting and photography at Bernarducci Meisel

Katherine Mangiardi, a 2008 RISD/Skowhegan graduate, is presenting her first solo exhibition in New York at Bernarducci Meisel Gallery, located at 37 West 57th Street. The show, titled "Katherine Mangiardi: Lace," runs until February 9 and is part of the gallery's "First Look" series of three exhibitions. Mangiardi's work focuses on lace, examining its historical, aesthetic, and social dimensions across multiple mediums. She creates lace-inspired pieces using plaster and canvas, cutting, painting, and reconfiguring materials rather than sewing. In photographic works, she conceals her face behind masks that reference anonymous lace workers, drawing comparisons to artists like Cindy Sherman and Yinka Shonibare. Her paintings deconstruct lace's decorative patterns, blending meticulous rendering with elements reminiscent of action painting. Despite the gallery's usual emphasis on hyper-realistic art, Mangiardi is not a photorealist; she works expressively in painting, assemblage, photography, and installation. One featured artwork is "Lace Tapestry (16th – 18th Century)," a 2013 acrylic on panel measuring 60 by 72 inches.