Artspace Editors. 8 Artists to Watch this October. Artspace. 6 October ...
Artspace Editors. 8 Artists to Watch this October. Artspace. 6 October 2017.
The earliest piece on view at Di Meo’s first solo exhibition at JTT is from 1952; “Untitled” is a haunting wall relief with small, sculpted, skull-like faces protruding toward the viewer. A red line cuts across the horizontal piece, calling to mind a flatlining heart beat monitor, typically signifying loss of life. Living in Chicago in the early 1950s (before finally moving in 1969 to New York, where he currently resides) Di Meo was considered part of a community of artists unique to Chicago referred to as the Monster Roster. Though the recurring images of truncated and dismembered bodies that speckle his prolific 70-year career seem fittingly timed for the month of Halloween, Di Meo’s influences are much darker and gruesome than bobbing for apples and overdosing on sugar. After contracting polio at the age of four, Di Meo spent four years in a children’s ward strapped down to a bed to prevent him from moving his limbs (doctors at the time believed that limiting motion was helpful in the treatment of polio—we now know this couldn’t be further from the truth.) From his bed, Di Meo watched the dead bodies of infants and children removed each night in black plastic bags, after witnessing them writhe and suffer for weeks before. According to the press release, “Di Meo confronted this memory throughout his entire life, constantly attempting to reconcile these haunting images with a dark and sinister humor.” Well, that’s one way to turn lemons into lemonade!
The earliest piece on view at Di Meo’s first solo exhibition at JTT is from 1952; “Untitled” is a haunting wall relief with small, sculpted, skull-like faces protruding toward the viewer. A red line cuts across the horizontal piece, calling to mind a flatlining heart beat monitor, typically signifying loss of life. Living in Chicago in the early 1950s (before finally moving in 1969 to New York, where he currently resides) Di Meo was considered part of a community of artists unique to Chicago referred to as the Monster Roster. Though the recurring images of truncated and dismembered bodies that speckle his prolific 70-year career seem fittingly timed for the month of Halloween, Di Meo’s influences are much darker and gruesome than bobbing for apples and overdosing on sugar. After contracting polio at the age of four, Di Meo spent four years in a children’s ward strapped down to a bed to prevent him from moving his limbs (doctors at the time believed that limiting motion was helpful in the treatment of polio—we now know this couldn’t be further from the truth.) From his bed, Di Meo watched the dead bodies of infants and children removed each night in black plastic bags, after witnessing them writhe and suffer for weeks before. According to the press release, “Di Meo confronted this memory throughout his entire life, constantly attempting to reconcile these haunting images with a dark and sinister humor.” Well, that’s one way to turn lemons into lemonade!
