Delia Gonzalez
16 Dec 2010 - 19 Feb 2011
DELIA GONZALEZ
In remembrance
16 December, 2010 - 19 February, 2011
Fonti Gallery is pleased to present “In remembrance”, Delia Gonzalez’first solo show in Italy.
The artist in 2005 at Gallery Fonti Naples and in 2007 at Art Basel Statement, has already showed in collaboration with artist Gavin Russom.
The project of the show consists in a 16mm film projected in the second room of the gallery, recreated specifically as a dark room, and in four video stills and four drawings displayed in the first room of the gallery.
The inspiration for the film “In remembrance” is drawn from a passage by Henry Miller, excerpted in the diary of Anais Nin. Anais describes an afternoon with Henry Miller and proceeds to quote a passage of his writing at length: a first-person narrative detailing, a poetic process of revelation. The development of the film can be roughly broken down into two parts, the first part being a vivid description of Oberon’s black wings, the second, passing through an enlightened stage of second-childhood, employs the imagery of a black spring. The title is drawn from a line in the passage: “In remembrance of the life of a child who was strangled and stifled by the mutual consent of those who had surrendered.
One of the things that interests Delia Gonzalez about Henry Miller’s writing is how he can write the crudest things, and yet surprise the reader with some of the most insightful writing.
The story of the ballet in this work is a loose interpretation of the narrative arch of this passage. In part I (Oberon), the dancers in a black space, are dissolved into the mirror, and as they pass in front of each other the black costume of one obscures the other. The constant interplay between them doubling themselves, then each other in turn, is a reference to the Oberon figure. The second part involves a similar situation as the dancers move into and out of a red light flare as if moving into and out of two worlds. As the dancers leave the red light, they enter what seems to be more “true” or “authentic” lighting. This, combined with the occasional cut away to a fantastical setting, introduces the theme of the interference of reality.
The use of ballet, piano, and 16 mm film is significant: these are all analogue art forms. With the minimal music and dance and the repetition in both, Delia Gonzalez wants to emphasize movement. Especially the monochromatic colour of the dancers and the film overall should direct attention away from the dancers, allowing the viewer to concentrate on the actual shapes taking form. The challenge here was to take as a reference a rather metaphysical narrative arch and locate it in the dancers’ form, allowing the story to be told through the body. Although it would seem that the logic of Miller’s narrative – a metaphysical one – would be at odds with the physicality of the dancers, being able to tell the story without words allows the artist to capture feelings and dynamics not easily expressed in language.
Delia Gonzalez drawings are like musical compositions: “I think and feel in shapes and patterns so making drawings and making music is my way of expressing the feelings I cannot put into words: the visual sound of the unconscious.
In a sense they are like cells. They are living, breathing and slowly recomposing themselves: maybe they are my idea of worship. I’ve always drawn maps of my life's events and have always been obsessed with cells. I felt like one isolated cell alone and removed from the others in the system. With the passing of time, these cells have multiplied and taken a form of their own. Perhaps my drawings are my way of integrating myself into life's system, life's biological order. In my drawings circles also refer to the moon and represent birth, death, re birth: the endless cycle of life.
In remembrance
16 December, 2010 - 19 February, 2011
Fonti Gallery is pleased to present “In remembrance”, Delia Gonzalez’first solo show in Italy.
The artist in 2005 at Gallery Fonti Naples and in 2007 at Art Basel Statement, has already showed in collaboration with artist Gavin Russom.
The project of the show consists in a 16mm film projected in the second room of the gallery, recreated specifically as a dark room, and in four video stills and four drawings displayed in the first room of the gallery.
The inspiration for the film “In remembrance” is drawn from a passage by Henry Miller, excerpted in the diary of Anais Nin. Anais describes an afternoon with Henry Miller and proceeds to quote a passage of his writing at length: a first-person narrative detailing, a poetic process of revelation. The development of the film can be roughly broken down into two parts, the first part being a vivid description of Oberon’s black wings, the second, passing through an enlightened stage of second-childhood, employs the imagery of a black spring. The title is drawn from a line in the passage: “In remembrance of the life of a child who was strangled and stifled by the mutual consent of those who had surrendered.
One of the things that interests Delia Gonzalez about Henry Miller’s writing is how he can write the crudest things, and yet surprise the reader with some of the most insightful writing.
The story of the ballet in this work is a loose interpretation of the narrative arch of this passage. In part I (Oberon), the dancers in a black space, are dissolved into the mirror, and as they pass in front of each other the black costume of one obscures the other. The constant interplay between them doubling themselves, then each other in turn, is a reference to the Oberon figure. The second part involves a similar situation as the dancers move into and out of a red light flare as if moving into and out of two worlds. As the dancers leave the red light, they enter what seems to be more “true” or “authentic” lighting. This, combined with the occasional cut away to a fantastical setting, introduces the theme of the interference of reality.
The use of ballet, piano, and 16 mm film is significant: these are all analogue art forms. With the minimal music and dance and the repetition in both, Delia Gonzalez wants to emphasize movement. Especially the monochromatic colour of the dancers and the film overall should direct attention away from the dancers, allowing the viewer to concentrate on the actual shapes taking form. The challenge here was to take as a reference a rather metaphysical narrative arch and locate it in the dancers’ form, allowing the story to be told through the body. Although it would seem that the logic of Miller’s narrative – a metaphysical one – would be at odds with the physicality of the dancers, being able to tell the story without words allows the artist to capture feelings and dynamics not easily expressed in language.
Delia Gonzalez drawings are like musical compositions: “I think and feel in shapes and patterns so making drawings and making music is my way of expressing the feelings I cannot put into words: the visual sound of the unconscious.
In a sense they are like cells. They are living, breathing and slowly recomposing themselves: maybe they are my idea of worship. I’ve always drawn maps of my life's events and have always been obsessed with cells. I felt like one isolated cell alone and removed from the others in the system. With the passing of time, these cells have multiplied and taken a form of their own. Perhaps my drawings are my way of integrating myself into life's system, life's biological order. In my drawings circles also refer to the moon and represent birth, death, re birth: the endless cycle of life.