photo by Paolo Bellesia
SAMANTHA STELLA & NERO KANE: HELL 23
MIKE VENSEL: ABYSS
Live performance - US Premiere
September 12, 2016 at 8:00 PM
Italian Cultural Institute
1023 Hilgard Avenue | Los Angeles, CA 90024
In anticipation of the 16th annual Italian Language Week in the World with the theme of Italian and Creativity: Brands and Traditions, Fashion and Design, the Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles presents the US Premiere of Hell23 and Abyss. The two complementary performances are respectively composed of installation art, music and dance by the Italian artists Samantha Stella and Nero Kane, and a series of tableaux vivants inspired by their work by the artist and designer Mike Vensel.
The performance Hell23 is inspired by Cumaean Sibyl, a priestess of Apollo, the Greek-Roman god of the Arts, Music, Poetry and Prophecy, as well as death and destruction as described in Homer's Iliad. It suggests a shamanic journey in the dark depths of the afterlife.
Musically, the performance develops from the song Spirits, from the album Lust Soul, by the rock-wave project NERO. The visual and performance vocabulary includes the use of symbols from Neo-Classical sculpture, geometry, Samantha Stella’s motionless body and repeated gestures – a reoccurring theme in Stella’s Corpicrudi project. Corpicrudi has performed in contemporary art galleries, museums and theaters internationally including Los Angeles for LA Fashion Week 2014, where Stella presented with the celebrated dancer and choreographer Matteo Levaggi.
Inspired by the suggestive representation of Hell by Samantha Stella and Nero Kane, Abyss, offers unique tableaux vivants by artist and fashion designer Mike Vensel with a particular focus on ecology, which is reflected in his garments and art objects.
By invitation only and open to IIC members.
Viewer discretion is advised.
Samantha Stella is an Italian visual artist, performer, set, costume designer and art director for art and fashion events. In 2005 with Sergio Frazzingaro she founded the artistic duo Corpicrudi. Contemporary art galleries, museums, churches, prisons and castles have hosted their projects often in collaboration with designers, choreographers, writers, poets and visual artists. She collaborates with post-punk/rock/new wave bands and musicians. In 2013, together with the noted artist and dancer Matteo Levaggi, she presented Prelude for a Symphony in Black, in Los Angeles during LA Fashion Week with notable success. Since 2015 she has directed and performed in music videos and live installations with the Italian musician Nero Kane.
Nero Kane is the Italian composer, singer and bassist Marco Mezzadri, founder of the music project NERO as well as other musical projects including The Detonators (punk) and The Doggs (garage-rock). NERO mixes rock'n'roll, dark and new wave atmospheres. He debuted with the album the Lust Soul (January 2016), and the launch of two music videos directed and performed by Samantha Stella (Tomorrow Never Comes and No Sense of Crime).
Mike Vensel is an American artist, photographer and fashion designer based in Los Angeles. He is known for his dark, sensual, minimalist aesthetic sourced from history, mythology, art and music. He has shown his work in New York, Los Angeles and Milan fashion weeks. Since 2006 Vinsel has worked with Stella and Corpicrudi in Los Angeles, New York and Milan. Through his use of ecological materials, Vensel supports ethical and sustainable fashion.
Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Los Angeles (IIC)
Founded in 1984 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to promote Italian culture in Southern California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. The IIC organizes Italian language courses and events in collaboration with numerous local institutions with the goal of presenting Italy in all of its cultural richness: architecture, cinema, design, literature, music, science, theater and the visual arts.
