CASA REGIS: PHOTOGRAPHY INTO SCULPTURE — AN HOMAGE AND AN UPDATE
Curated by L. Mikelle Standbridge
ON MY VANITY RESTS A 1956 PHOTOGRAPH OF MY MOTHER—HER SMILE, HER GRACE, HER STYLE STILL BRINGS ME JOY. EACH DAY I PAUSE BEFORE IT, REMINDED IT HAS BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE HER PASSING. PHOTOGRAPHS ARE FRAGMENTS OF MEMORY, ANCHORS OF TIME AND PLACE, EVIDENCE OF WHAT WAS—OR WHAT WE DREAMED COULD BE.
PHOTOGRAPHY’S HISTORY, TRACED TO BOTH FRANCE AND ENGLAND, HAS ALWAYS CARRIED THIS DUALITY OF EVIDENCE AND IMAGINATION. IN FRANCE, JOSEPH NICÉPHORE NIÉPCE AND LOUIS DAGUERRE PIONEERED THE FIRST PERMANENT IMAGES; IN ENGLAND, WILLIAM HENRY FOX TALBOT INTRODUCED THE NEGATIVE–POSITIVE PROCESS THAT SHAPED MODERN PRACTICE. YET WHEREVER ITS ROOTS ARE CLAIMED, PHOTOGRAPHY HAS REMAINED CONSTANT IN ITS ABILITY TO WITNESS AND PRESERVE, EVEN AS IT EVOLVES AND REVOLUTIONIZES WHAT IT CAN BECOME.
IT IS THIS SENSE OF PHOTOGRAPHY AS BOTH DOCUMENT AND TRANSFORMATION THAT RESONATES WITH PHOTOGRAPHY INTO SCULPTURE — AN HOMAGE AND AN UPDATE, OPENING AT CASA REGIS: CENTER FOR CULTURE AND CONTEMPORARY ART. THE EXHIBITION EXTENDS THE DISCOURSE INITIATED BY PETER C. BUNNELL’S SEMINAL 1970 EXHIBITION PHOTOGRAPHY INTO SCULPTURE, RESTAGING ITS QUESTIONS FOR THE PRESENT MOMENT. SITUATED IN MOSSO, NORTHERN ITALY, CASA REGIS INHABITS A LAYERED HISTORY—FROM PRIVATE RESIDENCE TO CONVENT UNTIL THE 1970S—THAT SHAPES ITS IDENTITY TODAY AS A SITE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART. UNDER THE DIRECTION OF CURATOR L. MIKELLE STANDBRIDGE, THE SPACE SUSTAINS BUNNELL’S INQUIRY WHILE OFFERING NEW DIALOGUES BETWEEN EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN ARTISTS IN A CONTEXT WHERE HISTORY AND REINVENTION COEXIST.
THE EXHIBITION ENGAGES DIRECTLY WITH THE ATMOSPHERE OF CASA REGIS. SOME WORKS RESPOND TO ITS FRESCOED WALLS AND ORNATE CEILINGS, WHILE OTHERS DELIBERATELY INTERRUPT OR UNSETTLE THE ARCHITECTURE. THIS INTERPLAY OF RESONANCE AND DISSONANCE REFLECTS HOW CONTEMPORARY PRACTICE INHABITS AND REDEFINES LAYERED NARRATIVES OF PLACE. WHEN ASKED WHY SHE RETURNED TO BUNNELL’S ORIGINAL EXHIBITION AT MOMA, STANDBRIDGE REMARKED: “YOU DON’T HEAR PEOPLE SAY ‘PHOTOGRAPHY IS DEAD’ THE WAY THEY DO WITH PAINTING. PERHAPS THAT IS WHY THE EXHIBITION WAS CREATED—BECAUSE PHOTOGRAPHY IS ALWAYS EVOLVING.”
HER NEW EXHIBITION, PHOTOGRAPHY INTO SCULPTURE: AN HOMAGE AND AN UPDATE (OCTOBER 5, 2025 – FEBRUARY 22, 2026), GATHERS TEN LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS FROM FRANCE, THE UNITED STATES, ITALY, IRELAND, THE NETHERLANDS, AND SPAIN. THEIR WORKS EXPAND THE VOCABULARY OF PHOTOGRAPHIC OBJECTS, INSTALLATION, AND MATERIAL EXPERIMENTATION. ARTISTS INCLUDE OLGA CALDAS, DIANE MEYER, BENNIE FLORES ANSELL, DAWN SURRATT, SILVIA GAFFURINI, HENRIK MIKLOS ANDERSON, ROBERTA TOSCANO, OONA HYLAND, VILLIAM MIKLOS ANDERSON, FABIOLA UBANI, AND STANDBRIDGE HERSELF.
BUNNELL’S ORIGINAL 1970 MOMA EXHIBITION TOURED EXTENSIVELY ACROSS NORTH AMERICA AND WAS MET WITH MIXED REVIEWS, LATER RESURFACING AT CHERRY AND MARTIN (2011) AND HAUSER & WIRTH (2014). ITS ONGOING RECONSIDERATION PROVES ITS LASTING INFLUENCE IN RETHINKING PHOTOGRAPHY BEYOND FLATNESS, INTO OBJECTHOOD AND ENVIRONMENT. AT CASA REGIS IN 2025, THE CONVERSATION EXTENDS INTO AN EXPANDED FIELD WHERE PHOTOGRAPHY BECOMES SCULPTURE, INSTALLATION, HYBRID FORM—ALWAYS RESTLESS, ALWAYS ALIVE.
THE SETTING OF CASA REGIS ADDS PROFOUND RESONANCE. FOUNDED BY STANDBRIDGE IN 2019, IT OCCUPIES THE FORMER REGIS FAMILY RESIDENCE, INTERTWINED HISTORICALLY WITH THE INFLUENTIAL SELLA FAMILY OF BIELLA. OVER CENTURIES, IT EVOLVED FROM RESIDENCE TO A SUMMER GATHERING PLACE FOR CHILDREN, AND FINALLY INTO A CONVENT BEFORE ITS CLOSURE IN THE 1970S. ITS FRESCOES, PAINTED CEILINGS, AND WORN WALLS REMAIN INTACT, PROTECTED BY PRESERVATION LAWS. RATHER THAN ERASING ITS PAST, STANDBRIDGE HAS EMBRACED IT. CASA REGIS IS NOT A WHITE CUBE BUT A LIVING SITE WHERE PAST AND PRESENT PRESS AGAINST ONE ANOTHER, WHERE CONTEMPORARY PRACTICE FINDS NEW GROUND.
THE ARTISTS IN AN HOMAGE AND AN UPDATE PUSH PHOTOGRAPHY BEYOND ITS TWO-DIMENSIONAL CONFINES. DIANE MEYER, ONCE A STUDENT OF ELLEN BROOKS (AN ARTIST IN BUNNELL’S ORIGINAL EXHIBITION), EMBEDS CROSS-STITCH INTO BERLIN CITYSCAPES, ILLUMINATING THE INVISIBLE SCARS OF THE FORMER WALL. STANDBRIDGE PRINTS ON COTTON PAPER, MOLDING THE SHEETS INTO ORGANIC SHAPES, THEIR SURFACES SCRATCHED, STITCHED, DYED, AND WAXED. HUNG FROM BARS AND CUSTOM HARDWARE, HER WORKS HOVER BETWEEN SCROLL, OBJECT, AND FRAGILE RELIC. DAWN SURRATT CREATES ASSEMBLAGE VIGNETTES; HER PHOTOGRAPHS CAREFULLY PLACED AMONG OBJECTS TO FORM INTIMATE SENSORY ENVIRONMENTS. IN CONTRAST, ROBERTA TOSCANO AND HENRIK MIKLOS ANDERSON WORK WITH “BACKLIGHT”—POSITIVE TRANSPARENCIES ILLUMINATED BY LED. TOSCANO, FOR EXAMPLE, USES A MEDICAL LIGHT BOX, TURNING CLINICAL TECHNOLOGY INTO POETIC DISPLAY.
SILVIA GAFFURINI LAYERS EMBOSSED DESIGNS AND GRAPHS, AI GENERATED INTO HER PHOTOGRAPHS, EXTENDING HER COMPOSITIONS BEYOND INITIAL VISION INTO A SCULPTURAL LANGUAGE OF OBJECT AND SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. OLGA CALDAS PRINTS ON FABRIC, TRANSFORMING DOMESTIC ITEMS—CURTAINS, PILLOWS, RUGS—INTO AN IMMERSIVE INSTALLATION. OONA HYLAND PRINTS ONTO A 3D JUG, WHILE FABIOLA UBANI APPLIES IMAGES TO GAUZE AND GLASS, EXPLORING FRAGILITY, PRESENCE, AND ABSENCE. VILLIAM MIKLOS ANDERSON EMPLOYS CT SCANS AND NEON ACRYLIC, LASER-ETCHED AND MIRRORED TO PRODUCE FUTURISTIC FRAMES. HIS WORK OSCILLATES BETWEEN TECHNOLOGY AND NARRATIVE. MEANWHILE, BENNIE FLORES ANSELL TRANSFORMS CASA REGIS’ DOME ROOM INTO A PLAY OF LIGHT AND ILLUSION. USING DICHROIC FILMS, ANALOG PHOTOGRAPHIC TOOLS FOR PROJECTIONS, CONCAVE MIRRORS, TRANSPARENCIES, AND CONTRAST FILTERS, SHE STAGES AN ENVIRONMENT THAT SHIFTS WITH EVERY HOUR OF THE DAY—AN HOMAGE TO THE HISTORY OF PHOTO-MAKING AND ITS ALCHEMY OF LIGHT.
WHAT EMERGES AT CASA REGIS IS NOT A REPRISE OF 1970 BUT A LIVING CONTINUATION OF ITS QUESTIONS. PHOTOGRAPHY HERE IS LIBERATED FROM THE FLAT PAGE: IT BECOMES OBJECT, FABRIC, VESSEL, ENVIRONMENT. EACH ARTIST TAKES RISKS, REFUSING TO REMAIN CONFINED BY TRADITION. THE EXHIBITION DEMONSTRATES HOW PHOTOGRAPHY, LIKE MEMORY ITSELF, IS NEVER STILL. IT ADAPTS, EXPANDS, AND INSISTS ON ITS VITALITY.
IN MOSSO, AMONG FRESCOES AND HISTORIC WALLS, PHOTOGRAPHY INTO SCULPTURE: AN HOMAGE AND AN UPDATE REMIND US THAT PHOTOGRAPHY DOES NOT ONLY DOCUMENT—IT REDEFINES. JUST AS A SINGLE PHOTOGRAPH ON A VANITY CAN HOLD A LIFETIME OF MEMORY, HERE ARTISTS TRANSFORM PHOTOGRAPHY INTO SCULPTURAL, IMMERSIVE, AND RADICAL FORMS THAT RESIST REMAINING STATIC. EACH WORK INSISTS THAT THE MEDIUM IS NOT FIXED TO THE PAST BUT CONTINUALLY REMADE IN THE PRESENT, A LIVING INQUIRY INTO TIME, PLACE, AND PERCEPTION. AT CASA REGIS, WHERE HISTORY PRESSES AGAINST INNOVATION, PHOTOGRAPHY MOVES BEYOND THE NORM—BECOMING OBJECT, FABRIC, VESSEL, AND LIGHT ITSELF—EVIDENCE NOT ONLY OF WHAT WAS, BUT OF WHAT ART CAN BECOME.
- VICTORIA CHAPMAN
LOS ANGELES, OCTOBER 2, 2025