Gianna Dispenza: Dreamlets
Current exhibition
Works
Press release
Charles Moffett Gallery is pleased to present Dreamlets, a solo presentation of new work by London-based artist Gianna Dispenza, opening today, Wednesday, January 7th. The exhibition brings together four paintings and nine works on paper that trace the evolution of a recurring set of images drawn from states of reverie, repetition, and hypnagogia, the transitional state from wakefulness to sleep. Dispenza’s practice is rooted in an intentional cultivation, and curation, of what she reads, listens to and observes—books, sports, exhibitions, conversations, and politics—that materialize into imagery in the liminal space just before sleep. These fluttering visuals are archived, revisited, and obsessively repeated, becoming foundational imagery in her work. For Dispenza, repetition is not a pursuit of refinement or resolution, but a method for allowing images to shift, evolve, and take on symbolic meaning over time.
The catalyst for this body of work is a feasting scene that has appeared in Dispenza’s practice, in some shape or form, since 2012. In its current iteration, the motif reflects an ongoing meditation on power, excess, and control—ideas sharpened through her experience at Miriam Cahn’s exhibition Ma Pensée Sérielle at the Palais de Tokyo in 2023, and Rachel E. Gross' book Vagina Obscura, which examines the historical neglect women experience, particularly within the medical system. In Dispenza’s own words, “Some artists give you permission when you don’t know you need it, because their work can be so confronting, explicit, and energizing. When I saw her work, I realized I had more permission than I thought. I became aware of boundaries I had put up in my practice.”
Shown alongside recent paintings are gouache studies made before Dispenza’s last exhibition with the gallery in 2024, Round Table, revealing the artist’s gradual evolution and continued interest in exploring the same subject matter, further developing the composition with each iteration. Dreamlets focuses on a renewed engagement with color after a period of restraint. Moreover, Dispenza constructs her canvases as layered grounds—embedding sand, dirt, pigment, and concrete—so that each painting unfolds across multiple topographies. Color is negotiated across these layers, requiring simultaneous attention to what lies beneath and what emerges on the surface. The result is a visual field that feels both intuitive and meticulously composed.
Gianna Dispenza (b. 1990, Washington State, U.S.) lives and works in London, U.K. She holds a BFA in Sculpture from the San Francisco Art Institute (2014) and an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art, London (2020). Her practice spans painting, drawing, and sculpture, with materiality central to both form and concept. Recent solo exhibitions include Triangles at Cedric Bardawil, London (2025) and Round Table at Charles Moffett, New York (2024). Selected group exhibitions have been presented at The Stable World, S-chanf (2023, 2024), Artissima, Turin (2025), Charles Moffett, New York (2021, 2022, 2024, 2025), Thomas Ammann Fine Art, Zurich (2024), and Frestonian Gallery, London (2023).
The catalyst for this body of work is a feasting scene that has appeared in Dispenza’s practice, in some shape or form, since 2012. In its current iteration, the motif reflects an ongoing meditation on power, excess, and control—ideas sharpened through her experience at Miriam Cahn’s exhibition Ma Pensée Sérielle at the Palais de Tokyo in 2023, and Rachel E. Gross' book Vagina Obscura, which examines the historical neglect women experience, particularly within the medical system. In Dispenza’s own words, “Some artists give you permission when you don’t know you need it, because their work can be so confronting, explicit, and energizing. When I saw her work, I realized I had more permission than I thought. I became aware of boundaries I had put up in my practice.”
Shown alongside recent paintings are gouache studies made before Dispenza’s last exhibition with the gallery in 2024, Round Table, revealing the artist’s gradual evolution and continued interest in exploring the same subject matter, further developing the composition with each iteration. Dreamlets focuses on a renewed engagement with color after a period of restraint. Moreover, Dispenza constructs her canvases as layered grounds—embedding sand, dirt, pigment, and concrete—so that each painting unfolds across multiple topographies. Color is negotiated across these layers, requiring simultaneous attention to what lies beneath and what emerges on the surface. The result is a visual field that feels both intuitive and meticulously composed.
Gianna Dispenza (b. 1990, Washington State, U.S.) lives and works in London, U.K. She holds a BFA in Sculpture from the San Francisco Art Institute (2014) and an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art, London (2020). Her practice spans painting, drawing, and sculpture, with materiality central to both form and concept. Recent solo exhibitions include Triangles at Cedric Bardawil, London (2025) and Round Table at Charles Moffett, New York (2024). Selected group exhibitions have been presented at The Stable World, S-chanf (2023, 2024), Artissima, Turin (2025), Charles Moffett, New York (2021, 2022, 2024, 2025), Thomas Ammann Fine Art, Zurich (2024), and Frestonian Gallery, London (2023).