Michele Gabriele / Tangled Depictions
Curated by Mattia Giussani
August 23rd 2019 – September 22nd 2019
Gossamer Fog
BST, 186a Deptford High Street
SE8 3PR
London - UK
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| Michele Gabriele, It’s always so hard to admit that things are different than what we had believed at first sight, Paint, epoxy clay, steel, cables, digital print, glass, rubber, 2019 |
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| Michele Gabriele, It’s always so hard to admit that things are different than what we had believed at first sight, Paint, epoxy clay, steel, cables, digital print, glass, rubber, 2019, detail |
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| Michele Gabriele, It’s always so hard to admit that things are different than what we had believed at first sight, Paint, epoxy clay, steel, cables, digital print, glass, rubber, 2019 |
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| Tangled Depictions, Installation View |
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| Michele Gabriele, It’s always so hard to admit that things are different than what we had believed at first sight, Paint, epoxy clay, steel, cables, digital print, glass, rubber, 2019 |
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| Michele Gabriele, It’s always so hard to admit that things are different than what we had believed at first sight, Paint, epoxy clay, steel, cables, digital print, glass, rubber, 2019, detail |
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| Michele Gabriele, It’s always so hard to admit that things are different than what we had believed at first sight, Paint, epoxy clay, steel, cables, digital print, glass, rubber, 2019 |
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| Tangled Depictions, Installation View |
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Clockwise: Michele Gabriele, Your lies embarrass me so much that when I found out
exactly what it was, I’d rather pretend to believe your words, acrylic paint, enamel, epoxy clay, steel, cables,
digital print, glass, rubber, 2019; It’s always so hard to admit that things are different
than what we had believed at first sight, Paint, epoxy clay, steel, cables, digital print,
glass, rubber, 2019
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| Michele Gabriele, Your lies embarrass me so much that when I found out exactly what it was, I’d rather pretend to believe your words, acrylic paint, enamel, epoxy clay, steel, cables, digital print, glass, rubber, 2019 |
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| Michele Gabriele, Your lies embarrass me so much that when I found out exactly what it was, I’d rather pretend to believe your words, acrylic paint, enamel, epoxy clay, steel, cables, digital print, glass, rubber, 2019, detail |
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| Michele Gabriele, Your lies embarrass me so much that when I found out exactly what it was, I’d rather pretend to believe your words, acrylic paint, enamel, epoxy clay, steel, cables, digital print, glass, rubber, 2019 |
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| Michele Gabriele, It’s always so hard to admit that things are different than what we had believed at first sight, Paint, epoxy clay, steel, cables, digital print, glass, rubber, 2019 |
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| Michele Gabriele, It’s always so hard to admit that things are different than what we had believed at first sight, Paint, epoxy clay, steel, cables, digital print, glass, rubber, 2019, detail |
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| Michele Gabriele, It’s always so hard to admit that things are different than what we had believed at first sight, Paint, epoxy clay, steel, cables, digital print, glass, rubber, 2019 |
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Michele Gabriele, It’s always so hard to admit that
things are different than what we had believed at first sight, Paint, epoxy
clay, steel, cables, digital print, glass, rubber, 2019, detail
|
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| Michele Gabriele, It’s always so hard to admit that things are different than what we had believed at first sight, Paint, epoxy clay, steel, cables, digital print, glass, rubber, 2019, detail |
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| Michele Gabriele, It’s always so hard to admit that things are different than what we had believed at first sight, Paint, epoxy clay, steel, cables, digital print, glass, rubber, 2019, detail |
Photographs by Samuel Capps
The last few years have been marked by a radical shift in how
information is spread and diffused. The high speed and effortless way in which
we are bombarded by information, true or false, leave us with an openness and
confusion that brings us to shift within these different representations of
realities, feeling helpless in front of it, and yet trusting them as we almost
become integrated with them due to technological advancements. The information
systems of today’s capitalism, as highlighted by Dr. Nishant Shah (2019)[i],
rely on the fact that we don’t trust each other, so how is it possible to avoid
taking this situation for granted? How do we co-exist with this feeling of
discomfort?
For his first
solo exhibition in the UK “Tangled Depictions”, Michele Gabriele is presenting
a new body of sculptural works that explore and consider how the representation
of ideas and events are currently portrayed, analysing how information is used
in order to spread a complex and multiple knowledge of the different systems
which are the foundation of today’s knowledge-intensive capitalism. With 4 different
sculptures of the series “It’s always so hard to admit that things are
different than what we had believed at first sight” (2018-ongoing series), the
artist wants to highlight in a straight-forward and intimate way, how difficult
it is to accept happenings/ideas/objects/beings for what they are, as well as
the human tendency to not embrace their true meaning, not wanting to accept
things that are different from what one has always believed.
Michele Gabriele reflects on these circumstances by analysing the
representation of extinct beings, such as dinosaurs in mainstream culture, and
the way they are depicted in movies like Jurassic Park. It has been proved that
these creatures are generally more similar to chickens and poultry[ii],
rather than those scary yet beautiful beings a generation built their dreams
and fears on. The work, as the artist explains in a recent interview[iii],
presents an obvious and redundant dichotomy: one side is figurative, modelled
in a two-component epoxy resin and oil painting, the other is made with
commonly used materials and objects, selected for two reasons: the capacity to
emphasize this two-dimensionality and the ability to suggest an imaginary (or
more specific imaginaries), decorating the sculpture with random ornamental and
abstract friezes.
The double-face of the sculptures focuses and emphasizes the
misconception when looking at the artworks, especially when seen them in
photographs as it suggests that the entire sculpture is hiding its second, more
abstract and two-dimensional face or vice versa. The ways we perceive different
representations of reality, and the way we make them ours, are a key part of
these sculptures. Looking at the artist’s work, it is evident how these
interconnections of realities form our opinions for particular argument,
especially when something is not intended to have that specific meaning.
Michele Gabriele’s works representations are the perfect example of what
Tristan Garcia (2015) calls ‘the abstraction of the presence of things’[iv].
As the French philosopher states, ‘representation is a constraint produced by
art and incorporated in an object by work, which forces our perception to
absent a part of the presence of things.’ The tangled representations of
realities produced by the artworks, both due to technological advancements and
the blind
faith we put in the systems produced by the intensive-knowledge
capitalism, added to the intrinsic capacity of the artist to emphasize this
duality, make these works unique and complex. With these interventions, the
artist is trying to show how these tense representations of different aspects
of today’s life are embedded in the human vision of the contemporary and how
difficult it is to escape it.
Text
by Mattia Giussani
This
exhibition is supported by Arts Council England.
[i] Sha, N. (2019) The Measure of Trust: From analogue extensivity
to digital intensity. Available at:
[iii] Gabriele, M. (2019) Interview with Michele Gabriele.
Available at: http://atpdiary.com/michelegabriele/
[iv] Garcia, T. (2015) ‘In Defense of Representation’, in Cox, C. ;
Jaskey, J. ; Malik, S. (ed.) Realism Materialism Art, Berlin, Germany:
Sternberg Press, p.250, 251
------------------------------------------------------
Michele Gabriele, born in 1983, Italy, is a visual artist. He
earned his MA in Visual Arts in Brera Academy of Fine Arts, Milan and
Universitè 8, Paris. Solo exhibitions include: The Missing Link. On every point
of a sphere, Eduardo Secci Contemporary, Firenze (2019); Basic Extinct,
Silicone Gallery, Bordeaux (2018); Clumsy and Milky: encoding the last quarter
of a pose, WhiteNoise Gallery, Rome (2018); It Will not Only Kill You, It will
Hurt the Whole Time You're Dying, OJ Art Space, Istanbul (2017); The Missing
Link, Adolfo Pini Foundation, Milan (2016); They are standing there, under the
weather, totally waterproof or completely wet, Konstanet Kunstihoone Art All,
Tallinn (2015), Denise, Tile Project Space, Milan (2015); TUKATUKA Crac
Contemporary Art Research Center, Cremona (2014); Ka hi ki, Lucie Fontaine,
Milan (2011). Group shows include: Man Thing vs. Swamp Thing, Et.Al Gallery,
San Francisco (2018); Bunt, Ginny Projects, London (2017) Biennial of Future
Contemporary Arts, FSC, Copenhagen (2017); The Habit of a Foreign Sky, Future
Dome, Milan (2016); Body Holes - New Scenario, Berlin Biennial 9th Berlin
(2016); Aujourd'hui je dis oui, Galeria da Boavista, Lisbon (2016),
ViaFariniDOCVA, Milan (2014) Protocombo, Contemporary art museum, Lissone
(2014); The Fantastic Library, Art museum Man, Nuoro (2013); Le Associazioni
Libere, Dena Foundation for Contemporary Art, Paris (2012); Artissima Lido art
fair, Turin (2011); I Sette Arcobaleni, Careof, Milan (2008). He won the First
Prize Salon in Milan (2004); the residency program at the Spinola Banna
Foundation in Turin (2013); the Oslo10 Residency Program in Basel (2015); the
viafarini DOCVA Residency Program at the Carlo Zauli Museum (2014), the
Workshop of the Museo del Novecento by Peep-Hole in Milan, Menabrea Art Prize
in Rome (2015, finalist). His work has been reviewed, among others, in Exibart,
Atp Diary, KubaParis, Daily Lazy, ArteeCritica, Vogue, Curating The
Contemporary, Nero, Moscow Art, i-D, Artribune, That's Contemporary.
Mattia Giussani is an artist, curator and Daily Lazy editor based in London. After graduating in BA Photography at Camberwell College of Arts in 2015, he graduated in MFA Curating at Goldsmiths, University of London in 2017. His research has strong interest in the relationship between digital technologies, social changes and the response of art to these challenges. Recently he’s researching within the Posthuman field, and using it as a navigation tool within different theories, especially in relation between art, computational culture, technology and new media. Recent artistic and curatorial projects include: Unknown Synergy at Tile Project Space (Milano, May 2019); Heedful Sight at Like a Little Disaster (Polignano a Mare, Nov 2018, IT); Future Fictions at Assembly Point (London, Sep 2017, UK); Non Standard at T-Space (Milan, June 2017, IT); We are having a great time :) at Rockelmann & (Berlin, 2016, DE); 9 Evenings: Theatre and Engineering Revisited 1966/2016 at Arts Catalyst (London, UK, 2016); Into The Fold at Camberwell College of Arts (London, UK, 2016).
Mattia Giussani is an artist, curator and Daily Lazy editor based in London. After graduating in BA Photography at Camberwell College of Arts in 2015, he graduated in MFA Curating at Goldsmiths, University of London in 2017. His research has strong interest in the relationship between digital technologies, social changes and the response of art to these challenges. Recently he’s researching within the Posthuman field, and using it as a navigation tool within different theories, especially in relation between art, computational culture, technology and new media. Recent artistic and curatorial projects include: Unknown Synergy at Tile Project Space (Milano, May 2019); Heedful Sight at Like a Little Disaster (Polignano a Mare, Nov 2018, IT); Future Fictions at Assembly Point (London, Sep 2017, UK); Non Standard at T-Space (Milan, June 2017, IT); We are having a great time :) at Rockelmann & (Berlin, 2016, DE); 9 Evenings: Theatre and Engineering Revisited 1966/2016 at Arts Catalyst (London, UK, 2016); Into The Fold at Camberwell College of Arts (London, UK, 2016).