New Rochelle Opens the Door to "The World of Ugo Mochi"

This spring New Rochelle is opening a door to The World of Ugo Mochi, the late artist who resided in New Rochelle but was known around the world as a sculptor, illustrator and designer. Mochi was especially celebrated for his intricate cut paper creations (he disliked the term “silhouette”) that earned him the titles “Master of Outline Art” and “The Poet of Shadows.”

From April 29th to June 30th visitors to the New Rochelle Council on the Arts Rotunda Gallery at City Hall (515 North Avenue, New Rochelle) can step into an immersive exhibit of Mochi’s striking black-and-white “outline art”, on loan from the artist’s family – the first retrospective of his work in decades. A reception will be held on Tuesday, May 12th from 5 pm to 7 pm. Curated by NRCA Board members Barbara Davis and Lynn Honeysett with assistance from Theresa Kump Leghorn, the exhibit reveals the fascinating technique of an artist with a distinctive vision.

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Born in Italy in 1889, Ugo Mochi was using scissors and paper to create art from childhood. Enrolled in Florence’s Accademia di Belle Arti at age 9, Ugo would draw on that early training to imbue his two-dimensional paper-cutting with sculptural form, using only paper, a pencil and a lithographer’s knife to give his work a sense of motion and perspective. Today Mochi's works are in the collections of Windsor Castle, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Berlin Museum of Natural History; fittingly, an iron version of his outline artwork tops the pedestrian-only Asia Gate (Boston Road and Bronx Park South at E. 180^th St.) at the Bronx Zoo.

The World of Ugo Mochi features works generously loaned from the Mochi family’s private collection. (To learn more about Ugo Mochi visit the website his family maintains,ugomochi.com .)

What makes NRCA’s exhibit truly special is that a mural Mochi created – inspired by New Rochelle’s history -- has hung in the entrance space at City Hall, mostly unnoticed, since 1977. That year a group of 40 New Rochelle families contributed the money to buy and frame the 10-foot panel “The Landing of the Huguenots” and donated it to the City.

City Historian Barbara Davis, Director of the Westchester County Historical Society, notes that the mural is not historically accurate: “The Huguenots who settled here didn’t actually land in New Rochelle,” she explains, “they sailed into New York City and came over land, many by oxen cart, to New Rochelle.” Nevertheless Mochi’s remarkable interpretation remains a New Rochelle treasure: After a careful cleaning this month it was rehung at City Hall for all to enjoy.

The NRCA Rotunda Gallery is located at City Hall, 515 North Avenue in New Rochelle, and the exhibit can be viewed during business hours through June 30th.

The New Rochelle Council on the Artswas founded in 1975;its mission is to encourage the study and presentation of the performing and fine arts, and over the years NRCA has sponsored art exhibitions, theatrical productions, dance recitals, film screenings, lectures, spoken word events, concert series and public art. Find out more about NRCA at www.newrochellearts.org.

The New Rochelle Council on the Arts is proud to be a grantee of ArtsWestchester with funding made possible by Westchester County government with the support of County Executive Ken Jenkins.