Charles Anselmo, Teatro / Moto: Photographs on Paper and Silk

Balcony, Ultrachrome Archival Print, 44 x 57 ins

South Box Seating, Ultrachrome Archival Print, 44 x 57 ins

Teatro Campoamor #32, Archival Ultrachrome Print, 44 x 57 ins

An exhibition of new work on paper and silk, Teatro / Moto interprets the textured patinas and fragmented detritus of an abandoned hundred-year old theater. Anselmo writes, “Nestled behind the extraordinary Baroque beauty of Havana’s restored Gran Teatro is the smaller, roofless Teatro Campoamor. For fifteen years I had walked by this remarkable relic, unable to enter due to its barricades and boarded doors. One oppressively humid day in July, 2017, I met the caretaker who had been living in the theater for twenty-four years in what had been a coat-check room. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the inner edifice, so magically overtaken by lichen and vines, its wooden stage turned into soil by many seasons of rain. Fifteen-foot tropical palms had been gifted to this interior from seeds driven by the hurricane winds of previous years, the gold gilt peeling from sensuously ornate plasterwork.”