Ian Davenport Adds Color To Ancient Rome Cloister

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Artist Ian Davenport’s Bramante Colourfall is part of a group show in Rome, Italy at the Chiostro Del Bramante. The colorfully painted staircase in Rome’s historic cloister depicts the perfect juxtaposition between the centuries-old building and contemporary art.

Ian Davenport Bramante Colourfall

The Ian Davenport Bramante Colourfall is part of the exhibition CRAZY: Madness in Contemporary Art curated by Danilo Eccher. The exhibition comprised 21 international artists and more than 11 new site-specific installations. It was the first time works of art invaded the interior and exterior spaces of the Chiostro del Bramante in Rome, originally built in 1504.

rome bramante colourfall

Davenport’s Bramante Colourfall is a poured staircase of acrylic paint on MDF and aluminum panel. The striking contrast of old and new is on the exterior of the building and is one of the pieces you come into contact with first.

painted staircase ian davenport

Indicative of Davenport’s work, the imperfect colored stripes of paint spillover onto the ground to meld into a puddle of swirling colors.

bramante colourfall

At the top of the staircase you reach a landing that marks the beginning of another poured staircase.

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painted staircase

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“A perception of the world is the first sign of instability, the first contact between external reality and the brain, between physical truth and poetic creativity, between laws of optics and neurological disorders.”- curator Danilo Eccher

artist Ian Davenport
The artist Ian Davenport at work on the piece

‘Crazy’ exhibition at the Chiostro Del Bramante curated by Danilo Eccher was shown from Jan 8 2022- Feb 22, 2022. The exhibition included 21 artists Carlos Amorales, Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir / Shoplifter, Massimo Bartolini, Gianni Colombo, Petah Coyne, Ian Davenport, Janet Echelman, Fallen Fruit / David Allen Burns and Austin Young, Lucio Fontana, Anne Hardy, Thomas Hirschhorn, Alfredo Jaar, Alfredo Pirri, Gianni Politi, Tobias Rehberger, Anri Sala, Yinka Shonibare, Sissi, Max Streicher, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Sun Yuan & Peng Yu.

Images courtesy of Prudence Cuming and Ian Davenport Studio.

Ian Davenport Studio