Allouche Gallery is delighted to announce Speaking in Two Tongues, a duo exhibition featuring New York-based artist Logan Sylve and Angolan artist Cristiano Mangovo. Speaking in Two Tongues explores the artistic languages of Sylve and Mangovo, revealing the compelling intersections in their distinct visual narratives.
Logan Sylve, a self-taught artist originally from Louisiana, skillfully threads the needle between capturing outward appearances and revealing internal truths in his vivid canvases. Drawing inspiration from the comic books that captivated his imagination in youth, Sylve crafts elongated manga-like characters that come to life either in grayscale or in bright primary colors. His subjects burst forth in frenetic motion, adorned with exaggerated features such as oversized grinning teeth and expansive oval eyes. Recognized for the deliberate anatomical distortions of his subjects, Sylve seamlessly blends elements of surrealism, expressionism, illustration, and animation in his prolific oeuvre using paint, ink, pencil, sgraffito, and more.
Cristiano Mangovo’s body of work connects fading Angolan traditions with scenes of nature and metropolitan life, offering a poignant narrative of cultural preservation. His body of work, rich with folk symbolism and recurring motifs rooted in nature, ritual, and physiognomy, reflects on the body as a vast planet—a symbol of both past brutality and future resilience. His vibrant paintings depict people and animals in uncon- ventional configurations, often distorted with two or three mouths. Mangovo’s portraits depict at once the immense burden of life as well as the sheer miracle of existence.
Speaking in Two Tongues serves as a reflection on culture, tradition, and the dynamic relationships between individuals and their bodies.
Read the full article at https://www.meer.com/en/79010-logan-sylve-and-cristiano-mangovo-speaking-in-two-tongues
