Isabella Mandelli commits to her art with the same passion that she daily puts in her job as General Manager. Away from the hustle and bustle of her working life, as an artist, she exercises her creativity immersed into a childlike bubble made up of harmony and fantasies. From the tip of her brush the Barabubbles come to life! A whole population of fantastic creatures, including Baraba, Oco, Finolu and Boda, each with their own peculiar personality traits. A chaotically peaceful explosion of watercolor shades; transparent bubbles as an ideal representation of our world; the Barabubbles constantly throwing hearts at each other; the dynamic equilibrium between nature and any other fantastic creature: these are some the core instantly recognizable elements of lsabella's works.
Isabella defines herself as an eco-social artist. Accordingly, her aim is to put the spotlight on the concept of care in all its multifaceted aspects: from caring for the environment and its various elements, to paying due attention to diversity and inclusivity. In a sense, Isabella's work is a gift to those that look at it. By inviting people to become protagonists of the fantastic worlds that she paints, her art aspires to guide people in their quest for harmony. It is a unique take to painting, in that it aims to convey a message of both peace and dynamicity, where calmness becomes a driving life force, ultimately giving rise to a beautiful oxymoron. When the Barabubbles invite us into their bubbly homes, harmony flows out of the paintings straight to the heart of the observers. The latter are then led to experiment new ways to share the harmony that they experience: hence they are led to take care of others and nature.
Following this peculiar eco-social approach, art becomes interactive, effectively allowing us to exercise care. Therefore, artistic fulfillment for Isabella-and for her Barabubbles - lies in their ability to get out of the canvas. It is an art that strives to communicate its eco-social messages and whose ultimate realization lies only in the eyes of the beholder. All in all, these characteristics make Isabella's art appealing outside conventional schemes and spaces. Her works can indeed be found in living rooms, as well as in public spaces and art galleries. They can take the form of canvas or a decorated porcelain. They can be as big as a wall or pocket-sized as a little box. Like water takes the shape of the container which it is poured in, Isabella's painting constantly adapts to life, in a chameleonic effort to in still harmony and care.
Isabella's first exhibition was held in November 2018 at the MAC in Milan, the city she lives in, alongside her artistic mentor Pietro Spica. She then exhibited her paintings at Villa Arconati in Bollate in 2019 within the setting of Baraba For Africa, a charity event with whose proceeds the non-profit organisation II Seme della Speranza was able to build a children playground.
More recently, her paintings were featured in Venice within the 2021 event Isabella Mandelli: La danza felice dei Barabubbles at palazzo Contarini-Polignac Magazzino Gallery, as well as in the framework of the 2021 San Marino Festival Gentile in San Marino. Moreover, one can always meet the Barabubbles on their Instagram virtual page (@Barabubbles) and, since May 2021, a permanent thematic exhibition centered on the sea and its beautiful creatures called Lacasa di Baraba has been set up in a dedicated space in Santa Margherita Ligure.