Press release
122KB
september 21, 2021 - Marian Goodman Gallery
Maurizio Cattelan SMOKE | Art Basel 2021 | 21 – 26 September
Smoke is an episodic exhibition that takes place in the ArtBasel | Basel booths of Maurizio Cattelan’s galleries: Marian Goodman Gallery, MASSIMODECARLO, and Perrotin*.
Each individual gallery will present a part of the exhibition; each presentation is autonomous (and shown alongside the galleries’ other artists) and yet indissolubly bound to the other two parts.
While commenting on the global art world, and challenging a new post-Covid identity, the exhibition intends to question the very nature of how we display art. By dispersing his work throughout the fair in three separate parts, #mauriziocattelan creates a new, dynamic and emotional experience in which the moments of silence become as significant as the spoken word.
Smoke premieres a series of new works born from the tragic memories of September 11th, as we reflect upon its 20th anniversary. These memories also form the basis of Breath Ghosts Blind, the exhibition of his work at Pirelli HangarBicocca in Milan, curated by Roberta Tenconi and Vicente Todolì, and on view until February 20th, 2022.
Through an unprecedented visual language, Smoke is an experiment in collective writing and an exercise in shared mourning. Smoke is an act of rebellion against the rules of the global art system, and by extension a very universal challenge to the rules that govern our actions. Reflecting upon memory, love, and loss, the exhibition is at once a declaration of love and a funeral march.
One of the most celebrated artists working today, #mauriziocattelan depicts reality through its collective image, its icons and symbols. The artist unveils humanity by revealing its untold dreams as well as its scariest nightmares.
MASSIMODECARLO presents Night, an all-black American flag punctuated by bullet holes. Flags can act as discordant emblems, often symbolizing divisive culture and political conflicts. This new work by #mauriziocattelan alludes to the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as questioning the power of national pride and identity. But Night isn’t merely an acknowledgement, a critique, or a monumental symbol of a disturbing act of violence: its bullet holes in fact can also be associated to pinholes, revealing the secrets and mysteries that lie behind its frame. They also reference the practice of artist Lucio Fontana by overcoming the concept of space and moving art from its playground to a more universal approach.
Marian Goodman Gallery presents Ghosts + Found Work, a contemplative new work that combines symbolic and communal elements from September 11th and New York. Found Work, embodies the city’s iconic symbol, the I ♥ NY logo, in close dialogue with Ghosts, a new, yet historical series by the artist, of taxidermied pigeons in observation. As silent, yet omnipresent New Yorkers, pigeons have and continue to be onlookers and witnesses to the changes in the city. The artist obtained Found Work in a market in #newyorkcity, inscribed with thousands of personal reactions to the tragedy of September 11th. Part ready-made, and part collective lamentation, Ghosts + Found Work is a powerful tool that reminds us that history is written by the #people and memory can only exist when shared.
Perrotin presents Brother, 2021, a new site-specific sculpture that reflects upon the role of the individual in the public realm: when are we truly present; when can or shall we disappear? This new sculpture is an anti-monumental golden portrait of the artist himself emerging – or maybe fading out – from one of the walls of the booth. Brother, 2021, is an ambiguous declaration of the power of the individual in today’s world, trapped between the uncontrollable human desire for appearance and the unavoidable attraction to quietness, loneliness, and sorrow.
The three booths are visually linked with Ghosts. These taxidermied pigeons appear to be overseeing the other works of art, the galleries, or in fact, the whole of the art fair. Like uniformed guards, the pigeons of Ghosts look and control us from above, ready to find their way back home.
Related news |
||
|
|
|
april 11, 2024
|
april 15, 2022
|
november 19, 2021
|
|
Gagosian is pleased to announce Maurizio Cattelan's first solo gallery exhibition in more than two decades, opening at 522 West 21... |
Featuring Four Key Works by #mauriziocattelan, #felixgonzaleztorres, #richardprince, and Rudolf StingelBeginning Opens on April 23... |
Opening from November 20, 2021 to February 20, 2022, “Maurizio Cattelan: The Last Judgment” is the first solo exhibition in China ... |
Download all 
You might be interested in |
||
|
|
|
july 02, 2021
|
april 19, 2021
|
september 11, 2019
|
|
Curated by Roberta Tenconi and Vicente TodolíOpening on Wednesday 14 July 2021, from 5 PMPreview Members-only: reserved access to ... |
Pirelli HangarBicocca is pleased to announce a solo show by #mauriziocattelan from 15 July 2021 to 20 February 2022. Specially con... |
A girl surfing aboard an engine as though she were riding a wave, looking out at the horizon: this is one of the various images de... |
Italian 
Download all 
Share
Share via mail 
Automotive
Sport
Events
Art&Culture
Design
Fashion&Beauty
Food&Hospitality
Technology
Nautica
Racing
Excellence
Corporate
OffBeat
Green
Gift
Pop
Heritage
Entertainment
Health & Wellness