Andy Cross: House Painter

At the Collezione Maramotti, American artist Andy Cross physically constructs an “artist residence” using his own works as a building material.

At Reggio Emilia's Collezione Maramotti, American artist Andy Cross presents his most recent work: House Painter has a pitched roof, a door, three windows and even a small front porch. It is literally a house made out of paintings. About a hundred paintings cover the exterior, combined together as if they were simple construction materials, creating the effect of a visual kaleidoscope.

En plein-air, portraits, self-portraits, nudes, still-lifes, abstract and text paintings become a sort of narrative of the artist's experimenting with pictorial language in the last few years, and each of them was created independently at different moments. Only later did Cross assemble them to become part of a more pervasive and comprehensive experience.

Top and above: Andy Cross, *House Painter*, installation view at the Collezione Maramotti

“Recycle the painting, flip it over and start anew”, states Andy Cross, expanding on his process. “Cut it up and collage the parts onto another painting," he continues, "screw a few paintings together to create a larger surface and then paint on top of it all over again. Or, combine paintings together and make a house.” Thus, his openly declared practice acts like a bridge, connecting “opposite” sides — inside and outside, personal and public — in line with his vision of life experienced as a an on-going “artist's residence”.