Mario Sala
15 Jan - 05 Mar 2011
MARIO SALA
15 January - 5 March 2011
Galerie Nicola von Senger is pleased to present new works by Mario Sala. Born in Switzerland in 1965 the artist captivates us once again with a densely intertwined collection of pictures and sculptures. These alchemistic compositions of the most different materials transform the exhibition space into an expansive field of associations where the search for knowledge and the gradual construction of sense become a comprehensive holistic experience.
The current exhibition tells the story of a contract killer. The artist leads us into the inner life of the ordered culprit, the so-called ’Serving Boy’, beginning with a reworked photograph of a dilapidated hotel from the 1970’s. The image of a hallway has been partially coated with a gleaming varnish that holds a mysterious delusive calmness, irritating the viewer and building the tension. The apparitional, unreal, shadowy outlines of a woman in the window of this hotel raise the suggestion of a victim kept under surveillance. Sala constructs a universe but leaves it to the viewer to draw their own conclusions.
In the middle of the exhibition space stands a tipped over table.
Visible on the underside a missile or bullet like figure is arranged with countless little balls of loam and small pistol guns emerging from within. Tentacles of tone cleave out of this monster and, appearing as though beginning to form, a world seems to move inside of it. What is concealed becomes briefly visible before beginning to bubble: the internal mechanism of the killer.
The dreamlike cinematic scenery of Sala’s paintings allows us to participate in the impulses that release this bubbling. A returning motif of a dog challenges us to pursue tracks and search connections.
Nevertheless, no right interpretation can be found, as usual, with Sala.
Mario Sala creates thematically closed parallel worlds, which, in themselves, are enough. But formally, and concerning the contents, they take over a rich relationship. In Sala’s universe everything is connected with everything else. The individual feeling and experience of the artist is aligned with the real world in the here and now.
Embodied in his work is all that affects us, and our relationship to the world of art, literature, music, religion, mass media and politics.
Particularly because of the intuitive and suggestive approach of the artist, this rich universe of alignments never appears strained but instead invites one to stay.
Judith Platte / Gareth Malone, December 2010
15 January - 5 March 2011
Galerie Nicola von Senger is pleased to present new works by Mario Sala. Born in Switzerland in 1965 the artist captivates us once again with a densely intertwined collection of pictures and sculptures. These alchemistic compositions of the most different materials transform the exhibition space into an expansive field of associations where the search for knowledge and the gradual construction of sense become a comprehensive holistic experience.
The current exhibition tells the story of a contract killer. The artist leads us into the inner life of the ordered culprit, the so-called ’Serving Boy’, beginning with a reworked photograph of a dilapidated hotel from the 1970’s. The image of a hallway has been partially coated with a gleaming varnish that holds a mysterious delusive calmness, irritating the viewer and building the tension. The apparitional, unreal, shadowy outlines of a woman in the window of this hotel raise the suggestion of a victim kept under surveillance. Sala constructs a universe but leaves it to the viewer to draw their own conclusions.
In the middle of the exhibition space stands a tipped over table.
Visible on the underside a missile or bullet like figure is arranged with countless little balls of loam and small pistol guns emerging from within. Tentacles of tone cleave out of this monster and, appearing as though beginning to form, a world seems to move inside of it. What is concealed becomes briefly visible before beginning to bubble: the internal mechanism of the killer.
The dreamlike cinematic scenery of Sala’s paintings allows us to participate in the impulses that release this bubbling. A returning motif of a dog challenges us to pursue tracks and search connections.
Nevertheless, no right interpretation can be found, as usual, with Sala.
Mario Sala creates thematically closed parallel worlds, which, in themselves, are enough. But formally, and concerning the contents, they take over a rich relationship. In Sala’s universe everything is connected with everything else. The individual feeling and experience of the artist is aligned with the real world in the here and now.
Embodied in his work is all that affects us, and our relationship to the world of art, literature, music, religion, mass media and politics.
Particularly because of the intuitive and suggestive approach of the artist, this rich universe of alignments never appears strained but instead invites one to stay.
Judith Platte / Gareth Malone, December 2010