"Teatro Insetto,"("Insect Theatre" in Italian,) presented by gallery member Nathan Maxwell Cann

Northcoast Artists Gallery is pleased to present their March show, featuring the work of gallery member, Nathan Maxwell Cann.  The show is titled “Teatro Insetto.” Translated from the Italian to “Theatre of Insects,” the title of this show reflects the dual passions of amateur entomology and commedia dell’arte, the slapstick grandfather to Vaudeville. Inspired by the forgotten pantomimes of Grimaldi, the famous Clown of nineteenth-century Harlequinades, and the silent ballets of Deburau’s enigmatic Pierrot, these new Assemblage Works are a tribute to a bygone era. Here in these tiny shadow box theatres, the roles of Zanni & his children are played by rhinoceros beetles, blue weevils, orb spiders, and luna moths. Each insect is painstakingly spread, arranged, and mounted onto collaged vintage and found ephemera – be it 1920s calendar girls, found photographs, antique washboards, or Depression-Era paperback adventures – and liberally sprinkled with magic and a little black humor.

Nathan Maxwell Cann is a collage and assemblage artist living in Fort Bragg. He uses driftwood, dried kelp, and other flotsam to make dolls, sculptures, collages, and ceremonial rattles.  His work is informed by the occult, the Dada movement, commedia dell’arte, children’s toys, as well as the physical and psychological landscapes of Northern California. He and his wife own the Fog Eater Cafe\’in Mendocino.

Please join the artists for a First Friday Artists Reception on March 6, from 5 to 8 pm. Refreshments will be served. The show runs from March 4 thru March 30. Northcoast Artists Gallery is open daily from 11am – 5pm.