by
ADHD
COLONNA CONTEMPORARY ART
PROUDLY PRESENTS
A
NOISY
MIND
OCTOBER 13 - NOVEMBER 15
ARTIST BIO
ADHD, an artistic alias for Colin Frangicetto, born in 1981 in Abington, Pennsylvania, is a versatile multidisciplinary artist who seamlessly navigates both analog and digital realms. His creative spectrum spans painting, collage, photography, drawing, printmaking, assemblage, installation, and music.
ADHD's diverse artistic vocabulary includes abstraction, mixed media collage, expressive figuration, zines, graphic design, found objects, and post-graffiti mark-making. This eclectic mix converges into a visually captivating body of work tightly bound by conceptual and emotional threads.
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Common themes in ADHD's art explore interpersonal communication, mental health, neurodivergence, the artist's journey, humanity's relationship with technology (especially the internet), and the concept of time. With over two decades of creative exploration, Frangicetto transitioned from a full-time touring musician to a visual artist, earning a global presence with his work featured in collections worldwide.
show STATEMENT
'A Noisy Mind' is a solo show featuring new works by multidisciplinary artist ADHD (aka Colin Frangicetto aka Space Case). If there was one word to sum up the theme of this exhibition it would be overwhelm and that is surely very much by design. Through a variety of mediums and aesthetics the artist seeks to make the audience step inside of his post internet world which is made up of the broken synapses of neurodivergence, an ever present ringing of the ear and the haunted memories of a life spent on the road.
There is a quiet/loud dynamic at play here in the art much akin to the music he spent over half of his life creating. Chaotic and violent feeling de-collage pieces are balanced by soft overpainted personal photographs . Large, expressive figurative paintings on canvas with gestural marks and scrawl are offset by smaller minimal abstract works on paper. The works feel as if they are all either whispering or shouting : This is what it is like for me to exist right now. This is how I got here, this is where I am and I have no idea where I am going. By the way, how are you?
Among some of the more experimental works in the show is 'Constant Companion' which is simply an iPod mounted to a pure white painting on wood that plays the tone of the artist's tinnitus on an infinite loop in headphones for anyone to listen. Distortion pedals are likewise painted and mounted to panels like historical war relics along with decades of stolen hotel key cards collaged in overlapping grids. Oversized xeroxed photographs of Xanax & Adderall medication bottles are covered with thousands of meaningful markings; one for every day since they were prescribed. Ironically for an artist currently known prominently for still digital paintings, the only digital works in the show are small looping videos made of text and screen captures.
While the description of all of this can sound dark and perhaps anxiety inducing there is a consistent sense of levity and tender self awareness that seeks to draw you closer & hold your hand through the scary bits. Like a life-saving laughing fit at the peak of a bad acid trip, sometimes joking our way through our most difficult moments is the best way to survive them.
ARTIST STATEMENT
There are many instances in my life where I lack the language for my thoughts, feelings and or experiences. Due to this I often feel quite Iost in life's maze but art making has always been my most powerful allie in processing and expressing what felt otherwise ineffable. Art is primarily a meaning-making activity for me. Though I have somehow found a way to make it my means of survival, it is how I attempt to find a deeper understanding of myself and the world I live in. In its purest forms, art is a mystery and a miracle.
I've never been able to find satisfaction in one medium or even a singular style in art. Along the way I have had plenty of failed attempts at specialization or a "focused" aesthetic but I feel like I have finally fully succumbed to & embraced the title of multidisciplinary (and behind closed doors, multidimensional) artist. I sometimes feel like I've spent years resisting my truest self because I was simply brainwashed into some false ideal of marketability, the cursed idea of being known for one thing or look. Artistic style for me is a conceptual and emotional signature that is present but always morphing, just like my person. I find immense joy in running the gamut between both digital and analog music, painting, drawing, photography, collage, film, sculpture, assemblage and installation. I am continuously redefining what I see as an art object or experience and what I want to use to create it. In the end it is all one thing : me, using material to express my innermost being to the world.
The more I learn about myself and more specifically my neurodivergent brain the more I can see my art reflecting my difference. Now with the combination of a sudden onset of tinnitus and atypical brain function I can clearly see myself as a disabled person. Art miraculously helps me to accept and even embrace these difficulties. My work is there for others who feel their own difference/disability to connect to and when they do I feel a special kinship as well as a deep sense of purpose. While I don't quite know what neurotypical people might find in it I hope that it can serve as meaningful to them too even if that is just a better understanding of someone who thinks, feels and operates differently from them. I see art as a supreme form of communication but I now try not to prioritize universality over personal exploration within my own work as I think there is something lost in seeking mainstream approval. I hold a profound love, respect and appreciation for those who connect to what I do and success to me simply looks like continuing that relationship with honor.