Everything in nature has a lyrical essence, a tragic fate, a comic existence
28 Jan - 05 Mar 2016
Mounira Al Solh, The Sea is a Stereo, 2008-ongoing Courtesy the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut & Hamburg
EVERYTHING IN NATURE HAS A LYRICAL ESSENCE, A TRAGIC FATE, A COMIC EXISTENCE
28 January - 5 March 2016
Curated by Valerio del Baglivo
Artists
Mounira Al Solh | Riccardo Giacconi | Sara Jordenö | Alice Kok | Mladen Miljanović | Jiří Skála | Pavel Sterec and Vasil Artamonov
This is not a historical exhibition, nor an exhibition about history. It is rather an anthology of existences of non-illustrious men, united with each other by the intrinsic banality (and nevertheless familiarity) of the narrated facts. With innovative and personal approaches Everything in nature has a lyrical essence, a tragic fate, a comic existence examines the role of the artist as a biographer by addressing the dilemma of every writer: What are the most meaningful moments of an entire existence, which are worth being handed down?
The exhibition is inspired by two books: Giuseppe Pontiggia’s Lives of Non-Illustrious Men, an anthology of short biographies of fictional characters, and Michel Foucault’s The Life of Infamous Men, a collection of short descriptions of the lives of vicious men who have been interned. The exhibition aims to metaphorically continue this narration but introduces a significant difference: Rather than replicating the bleak and documentary styles of the above authors, the selected artists conceive any kinds of stratagem, tricks, and jokes to render these lives memorable.
28 January - 5 March 2016
Curated by Valerio del Baglivo
Artists
Mounira Al Solh | Riccardo Giacconi | Sara Jordenö | Alice Kok | Mladen Miljanović | Jiří Skála | Pavel Sterec and Vasil Artamonov
This is not a historical exhibition, nor an exhibition about history. It is rather an anthology of existences of non-illustrious men, united with each other by the intrinsic banality (and nevertheless familiarity) of the narrated facts. With innovative and personal approaches Everything in nature has a lyrical essence, a tragic fate, a comic existence examines the role of the artist as a biographer by addressing the dilemma of every writer: What are the most meaningful moments of an entire existence, which are worth being handed down?
The exhibition is inspired by two books: Giuseppe Pontiggia’s Lives of Non-Illustrious Men, an anthology of short biographies of fictional characters, and Michel Foucault’s The Life of Infamous Men, a collection of short descriptions of the lives of vicious men who have been interned. The exhibition aims to metaphorically continue this narration but introduces a significant difference: Rather than replicating the bleak and documentary styles of the above authors, the selected artists conceive any kinds of stratagem, tricks, and jokes to render these lives memorable.