Micol Assael
27 Jun - 29 Aug 2009
© Micol Assael
Inner Disorder (ref: 27 parts) - 1999-2009
display cases, ink and graphite on paper, 27 parts
110 x 200 x 140 cm 43 1/4 x 78 3/4 x 55 in
Inner Disorder (ref: 27 parts) - 1999-2009
display cases, ink and graphite on paper, 27 parts
110 x 200 x 140 cm 43 1/4 x 78 3/4 x 55 in
MICOL ASSAEL
"Inner Disorder 2009"
Sat 27. Jun 2009 - Sat 29. Aug 2009
For her second solo exhibition at Johann König, Berlin, Italian artist Micol Assaël will be showing an array of seven imposing glass vitrines outfitted with 250 white drawings of small format from the series „Inner Disorder" (1999 – 2001) beside a large, black wall-painting. The display – vitrines made out of safety glass loaded on sturdy aluminum tubes – emphasizes the minimalism of the fragile works on paper and makes the arrangement appear as a methodological investigation.
Micol Assaël began these series of drawings during her stay in the desert-like Icelandic landscape as a study on the relationship between air and light. After her return to Rome, she made a habit of starting every day with the creation of a white ink drawing instead of writing down her dreams like she did before. In the way of diary sketches, the drawings attest to constant transformations within time.
The aesthetic lightness of the paper works seems to contrast Micol Assaël’s installations in space, usually made of a heavy, machine-like technicality and often challenging the visitor physically. In 2007 she exhibited an accessible container at Johann König, Berlin. Inside the container low-frequency motors run hot so that the space filled up with smoke and a gasoline stench. The humming and buzzing of the motors starting and stopping produced noise-harmonies which upon entering the container could be felt with the body.
Assaël's installations are strictly built upon the laws of physics, mechanics and logic. At the same time, the artist reflects on philosophical concepts, which attempt to find a „physical Heimat for human consciousness" by connecting natural and social sciences. From this perspective, the amoeba-like forms in the drawing series „Inner Disorder" appear like energy-loaded particles in constant movement. Resulting from a half-conscious state between dreaming and waking, they seem to document empirically the mind's flow. The leap from "micro" to "macro", from subtle drawings to the large-format wall painting, translate the process into an almost analytic representational form.
Micol Assaël (*1979) lives and works in Rome and Moscow. Gallery Zero in Milan is currently showing works from the same series „Inner Disorder" (1999 – 2001). Secession in Vienna is dedicating a solo exhibition to the artist from September 10th to November 8th 2009. Museion in Bozen will present a solo exhibition in 2010. Micol Assaël's works have been shown previously within solo shows in 2009 at Palais de Tokyo in Paris and at Kunsthalle Fridericianum in Kassel as well as in 2007 at the Kunsthalle Basel.
Text: Isabel Hempel
Translation: Veronica Lehner
"Inner Disorder 2009"
Sat 27. Jun 2009 - Sat 29. Aug 2009
For her second solo exhibition at Johann König, Berlin, Italian artist Micol Assaël will be showing an array of seven imposing glass vitrines outfitted with 250 white drawings of small format from the series „Inner Disorder" (1999 – 2001) beside a large, black wall-painting. The display – vitrines made out of safety glass loaded on sturdy aluminum tubes – emphasizes the minimalism of the fragile works on paper and makes the arrangement appear as a methodological investigation.
Micol Assaël began these series of drawings during her stay in the desert-like Icelandic landscape as a study on the relationship between air and light. After her return to Rome, she made a habit of starting every day with the creation of a white ink drawing instead of writing down her dreams like she did before. In the way of diary sketches, the drawings attest to constant transformations within time.
The aesthetic lightness of the paper works seems to contrast Micol Assaël’s installations in space, usually made of a heavy, machine-like technicality and often challenging the visitor physically. In 2007 she exhibited an accessible container at Johann König, Berlin. Inside the container low-frequency motors run hot so that the space filled up with smoke and a gasoline stench. The humming and buzzing of the motors starting and stopping produced noise-harmonies which upon entering the container could be felt with the body.
Assaël's installations are strictly built upon the laws of physics, mechanics and logic. At the same time, the artist reflects on philosophical concepts, which attempt to find a „physical Heimat for human consciousness" by connecting natural and social sciences. From this perspective, the amoeba-like forms in the drawing series „Inner Disorder" appear like energy-loaded particles in constant movement. Resulting from a half-conscious state between dreaming and waking, they seem to document empirically the mind's flow. The leap from "micro" to "macro", from subtle drawings to the large-format wall painting, translate the process into an almost analytic representational form.
Micol Assaël (*1979) lives and works in Rome and Moscow. Gallery Zero in Milan is currently showing works from the same series „Inner Disorder" (1999 – 2001). Secession in Vienna is dedicating a solo exhibition to the artist from September 10th to November 8th 2009. Museion in Bozen will present a solo exhibition in 2010. Micol Assaël's works have been shown previously within solo shows in 2009 at Palais de Tokyo in Paris and at Kunsthalle Fridericianum in Kassel as well as in 2007 at the Kunsthalle Basel.
Text: Isabel Hempel
Translation: Veronica Lehner