Ro2 Art is proud to present Trappings of Divinity, a solo exhibition featuring new works by artist Aimee Cardoso. The show will run from January 12 - February 10, 2019. There will be an opening reception held Saturday, January 12, from 7-10pm at Ro2 Art located at 1501 S. Ervay Street, Dallas TX 75215.

Nearly eight years ago, Cardoso had the rare opportunity to study painting in Orvieto, Italy, a city with deep connections to its historical past and Italy’s great lineage of artists, poets, and saints, dating from Etruscan through Modern times. Cardoso’s latest series draws inspiration from a more recent trip to nearby Florence, Italy, during which she studied Renaissance paintings dating from the 14th–15th centuries.

In mostly small-scale and square format oil paintings, the artist closely examines vestments, objects, and gestures found in religious paintings. After extracting these elements from historical works of art, Cardoso re-presents them here slightly altered and magnified, enhancing their visual force but also drawing attention to the subtleties of their construction.

Though the series takes traditional painterly subjects, such as folded drapery and figurative gesture, as a focus, collectively, these works reveal a surprisingly nuanced and affecting study of both figure and still life. Cardoso offers the viewer a closer look at the methods of religious gesture and image making. Her paired down approach and bold treatment of color and shadow draw our attention to the surprising drama of these abstracted details. With Cardoso’s treatment, they more deeply resonate, as whole sources of new meaning.