RD : Sandra Binion + Lou Mallozzi
RD is a multi-media project by Sandra Binion and Lou Mallozzi that takes Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1844 short story "Rappaccini’s Daughter" as its catalyst. The story unfolds in a garden that mirrors a rationalist worldview while cultivating unruly toxins, invaders, and predators, intertwining anxieties, fears, and dilemmas concerning the human body, rational control of unruly nature, and the moral consequences of scientific experimentation. RD investigates these themes through a direct engagement with the real and imaginary sites of the story and its writing, transfiguring materials, surfaces, images, histories, and gestures through video, drawing, sculpture, photography, painting, and sound.
A 78-page catalog is available from the artists. It includes an essay by Giovanni Aloi and an extensive conversation between the artists and the curator.
The first iteration of RD takes place at the LdM Gallery of the Lorenzo de' Medici Institute in Florence, Italy, June 12 - July 11, 2025, curated by Spela Zitar.
