Opening of Primavera: Thursday, May 9th, 2024, 18:00 with aperitivo
With presentations by Michael W. Kwakkelstein, Dennis Geronimus, and Allison Malinsky.
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The Netherlands University Institute for Art History in Florence (NIKI) presents Primavera, a solo exhibition of new work by Barcelona-based artist Allison Malinsky.
During her time as Artist-in-Residence at the Netherlands University Institute for Art History in Florence (NIKI), Allison Malinsky, North American visual artist based in Barcelona, made artwork reflecting Florence´s local botany and her observations of Sandro Botticelli's painting Primavera at the Uffizi. Malinsky´s current painting exhibition of the same name, Primavera, is the culmination of her on-site drawing and library research about the botanical and mythological references in Botticelli´s painting, its influential poetry, and the comparisons of similar themes in the epic Dutch poem May.Â
For this exhibition at the NIKI, Malinsky made five large oil paintings using saturated colors and strong gestures to reimagine the central female characters from the mythological works of Primavera and May and to portray their legendary contribution to the season’s lush new beginnings. She also painted a series of 40 abstract watercolors with translucent layers of vibrant pigments, each representing an identified plant in Botticelli's Primavera, among other drawings. Additionally, in collaboration with the NIKI, the concept of ¨No Mow May¨ is implemented in their garden as an active component of the exhibition to support diversity of early pollinators and insects.
Allison Malinsky (born 1980, Canterbury, New Hampshire, USA) lives and works in Barcelona. She has exhibited internationally since 2001 and has been granted international residencies and awards, including the Cooper Union School of Art residency, the Vermont Studio Center Painting Fellowship Award, and the Ox-Bow School of Art Fellowship. Malinsky earned both her undergraduate degree in Studio Art (2002) and her Master of Art (2008) from New York University, the latter in a combined degree with the International Center of Photography (ICP). In addition to her visual work, she is the founding director and frequent curator of LA HUERTA.
Istituto Universitario Olandese di Storia dell´Arte (NIKI) supports and facilitates research for internationally recognized researchers in several areas of interest in the early modern period with access to unique material focusing on the artistic relations between the Netherlands and Italy. The NIKI promotes teaching and education for students and professors of the participating Dutch universities.  Directed by Professor Michael W. Kwakkelstein.
A forthcoming catalog will include texts by Professor Michael W. Kwakkelstein, Director of the Netherlands University Institute for Art History in Florence, and Dennis Geronimus, Professor of Art History and Department Chair, Department of Art History, New York University.
