Nona Inescu / Matthew Peers

Due personali di Nona Inescu: An animal that was once tought to be a plant that transformed into stone e di Matthew Peers: rough-cast.

Comunicato stampa

SpazioA ha il piacere di presentare, sabato 28 aprile 2018, alle ore 18, An animal that was once thought
to be a plant that transformed into stone”, seconda personale dell’artista Nona Inescu (1991, Bucarest),
negli spazi della galleria in Via Amati 13, Pistoia.

“Cosi nacque il corallo, e anchor ritiene
Simil natura, che nel mar più basso,
È tenero virgulto, e come viene
A l’aria s’indurisce, e si fa sasso.”
(Ovidio, Metamorfosi, Libro 4)

Sei una barriera corallina. Abbassa gli occhi sul tuo corpo. Sei diventata un corallo. Una parte importante
di questo ecosistema subacqueo. Guardati attorno, nella tua nuova casa. Questa è una barriera sana, con
una varietà di fauna e flora e diverse specie diverse di corallo, te compresa. Per sopravvivere, il corallo ha
bisogno di costruire e conservare il proprio scheletro. Il primo passo è raccogliere i mattoni principali: calcio
e carbonato. Usa il tuo braccio tentacolare per afferrare uno ione di entrambi i tipi. Questi ioni si combinano
e formano il carbonato di calcio, il componente principale del tuo scheletro corallino. Dovrai continuare a
raccogliere ioni per conservare il tuo scheletro e rimanere in salute.
“Un animale che un tempo veniva considerato una pianta che si trasformava in pietra al contatto con l’aria...”.
La mostra raccoglie un insieme di lavori basati sulla ricerca tuttora in corso dell’artista sulle affinità e
compatibilità tra corpi umani e non umani. Il corallo, che contrasta la propria morte, è la presenza non umana
ideale nel teatro post-tragico della resurrezione. Al tempo stesso animale, vegetale e minerale, il corallo non
solo mette in crisi la tradizionale divisione tra umano e non umano che privilegia l’eccezionalità e la resistenza dell’umano, ma occupa anche una temporalità alternativa attraverso la sua straordinaria resistenza al declino biologico. Attraverso una nuova serie di lavori, Nona Inescu immagina possibilità simbiotiche innescate da pratiche mediche e nutrizionali, come il consumo degli integratori di calcio corallino e l’uso del corallo per le protesi ossee. Il corallo, un animale sessile, è oggi diventato simbolo dell’accelerato cambiamento climatico e dell’acidificazione degli oceani. Di fronte alla loro imminente devastazione, le fragili barriere coralline e i corpi umani condividono le proprie vulnerabilità, in un esercizio di empatia incrociata.

Nona Inescu (nata nel 1991 in Romania, vive e lavora a Bucarest) ha completato gli studi nell’estate del 2016 all’Università nazionale delle arti a Bucarest (dipartimento Fotografia e Video) dopo aver studiato al Chelsea College of Art & Design di Londra (2009-2010) e all’Accademia reale di belle arti ad Anversa (2010-2011). La sua pratica artistica è interdisciplinare e comprende fotografie, oggetti,installazioni e a volte video. I suoi lavori, plasmati dalla ricerca teorica e letteraria, ruotano attorno al rapporto tra il corpo umano e l’ambiente e la ridefinizione del soggetto in chiave post-umanistica. Di recente, ha esplorato l’interazione dell’essere umano con elementi naturali e preistorici. Tra le ultime mostre personali, ricordiamo: Lithosomes alla Exile di Berlino (2017), Conversation with a stone allo SpazioA di Pistoia (2016), Her latent image alla Kube di Bucarest (2016), e Hands don’t make magic alla Sabot Gallery di Cluj (2015). I suoi lavori sono stati inclusi in mostre collettive come: Survival Kit 9 a Riga (2017), Life A User’s Manual alla Art Encounters di Timisoara (2017), Grotto Capitale alla Exile di Berlino (2017) e Gestures of Tomorrow al Kunstverein Nürnberg di Norimberga (2016).

Nona Inescu
An animal that was once tought to be a plant that transformed into stone

OPENING: april 28, 2018 - 6PM
UNTIl 16.06.18
TUE - SAT 11AM - 2PM / 3PM - 7PM or by appointment

Press release

SpazioA is proud to present, Saturday April 28, 2018, 6pm, An animal that was once thought to be a
plant that transformed into stone, the second solo show of the artist Nona Inescu (1991, Bucharest,
RO), in Via Amati 13, Pistoia.

“For still like nature ever since is in our coral found
That, look how soon it touches air, it waxeth hard and sound.
And that which under water was a stick, above is stone.”
(Ovid, Metamorphoses, 4.908-20)

You are on an ocean reef. Look down at your body. You have become a coral. An important part of this
underwater ecosystem. Look around at your new home. This is a healthy reef populated with a variety
of different plants and animals and several different species of coral, including you. To survive coral
need to build and maintain their skeleton. The first step is to collect the basic building blocks: calcium
and carbonate ions. Use your polyp arm to grab one of each types of ions around you. These ions
are combined to form calcium carbonate, the main component of your coral skeleton. You will need to
continue collecting ions to maintain your skeleton and stay healthy.
“An animal that was once thought to be a plant that transformed into stone, upon exposure to air...”.
The exhibition brings together a collection of works based on the artist’s ongoing research on the affinities
and compatibilities between human and non-human bodies. Coral, which reverses its own death, is the ideal
nonhuman presence in the post-tragic theatre of resurrection. Simultaneously animal, vegetal and mineral,
coral not only challenges a traditional human / nonhuman divide that privileges human exceptionality and
endurance, it also occupied once an alternate temporality through its wondrous resistance to biological
decay. Through a new series of works, Nona Inescu speculates on symbiotic possibilities triggered by
nutritional and medical practices, such as the consumption of coral calcium supplements and the use of
coral for bone implants. A sessile animal, coral has now become a symbol for accelerated climate change
and ocean acidification. Faced with imminent decay, fragile coral reefs and human bodies share their
vulnerabilities, in an exercise of entangled empathy.

Nona Inescu (b. 1991 in Romania, lives and works in Bucharest) completed her studies in the summer of 2016 at the National University of Arts in Bucharest (Photography and Video Department) after studying at the Chelsea College of Art & Design in London (2009-2010) and at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp (2010-2011). Her art practice is interdisciplinary and encompasses photographs, objects, installations and sometimes video works. Informed by theoretical and literary research, her works are centred on the relationship between the human body and the environment and the redefinition of the subject in a post-humanist key. Lately, she has been exploring the human interaction with natural and prehistoric elements. Recent solo exhibitions include: Lithosomes at Exile in Berlin (2017), Conversation with a stone at SpazioA in Pistoia (2016), Her latent image at Kube in Bucharest (2016), and Hands don’t make magic at Sabot Gallery in Cluj (2015). Her work has been included in group exhibitions such as: Survival Kit 9 in Riga (2017), Life A User’s Manual at Art Encounters in Timisoara (2017), Grotto Capitale at Exile in Berlin (2017) and Gestures of Tomorrow at Kunstverein Nuremberg (2016).

SpazioA is proud to present on Saturday April 28, 2018, 6 p.m., rough-cast, a solo exhibition of the artist
Matthew Peers (1991, Manchester) at the gallery project space.

spring vitrines
I.
the maddona’s leather belt was split in a tug of war
when one town pulled on the buckle, and the next town
pulled where the buckle affixes. a hundred thousand hands
gripped a length and attempted to feed it, curl it neatly,
into their own armour-plated reliquary. as one side gained ground,
the holy relic collected, as the other found its strength
it unfurled like a salt-tipped cow’s tongue, so that
her waist, by all accounts, was over thirteen miles long
II.
unopened daffodils, marsh irises, mugwort
and tumbling grasses clipped from the marsh’s verges
arrangements in grandmother’s best glasses
there’s a life time of bad luck for those
that slip tiny jewels into their back pockets
like mosaic glinting green under valuable dust
so send it express back to pompeii, address:
pompeii, vesuvius, italy and hope that you stop
tripping over edges, and grazing your knees
III.
through the restaurant window the mountain
has been rearranged like partially scrambled Rubic’s cubes
so that the peak appears at the centre of the scene
stains of hot mist from our food have occluded it further
and you have attempted to trace its true location
in the heavy condensation, in the grey cloudbanks I see
your eyebrows and think they are two confused eagles
Oscar Gaynor

Matthew Peers (born in 1991, Manchester). Graduated from Slade School of Fine Art, London 2010-2014.
Recent solo exhibitions include: Be-ThenChinge at GAO Gallery, London (2018); Fish and Shrine Sculptures, Troy Town Art
Pottery, London (2017); A Paper Coffee Cup Thinking Of A Cigarette, Fat Relic, London (2017). Selected group exhibition
include: Let’s See Where Were We? In The Pit Of Despair, De Ateliers, Amsterdam (2017); That Continuos Thing, Artists and the
Ceramics Studio, 1920 – Today, Tate St. Ives, St. Ives (2016); LOOKING AT PEOPLE LOOKING AT ART, curated by Mark Essen,
The Division of Labour, Londom (2015); The March Project, Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE (2016); The Cerebus Syndrome, The
Laughing Bell, London (2015); Potteries Thinkbelt, Rob Tufnell (2015); The Rare Earth Medicine Show, Troy Town Art Pottery,
London (2014); Slade Degree Show, Slade School of Art, London (2014); Workhouse, The Elephants Head, London (2013).
Online: THING 004 : TERRAIN, http://formiv.com, ongoing. The artist lives and works in London.

project space
Matthew Peers
rough-cast

INAUGURAZIONE: 28 APRILE 2018 - ore 18
FINO AL: 16.06.18
mar - Sab 11 - 14 / 15 - 19 o su appuntamento

Comunicato stampa

SpazioA ha il piacere di presentare sabato 28 aprile, 2018, ore 18, rough-cast, una mostra personale
dell’artista Matthew Peers (1991, Manchester) negli spazi del project space della galleria.
vetrine in primavera
I.
la cintura di cuoio della madonna si lacerò nel tiro alla fune
in cui una città tirò la fibbia, e l’altra
il suo punto d’attacco. centomila mani
afferrarono un capo e cercarono di infilarlo, degnamente arricciato,
nel loro reliquiario blindato. mentre un lato guadagnava terreno,
raccolta la santa reliquia, mentre l’altro scopriva la sua forza,
questo si svolse come la lingua di una mucca, tanto che
la cintola, secondo ogni testimonianza, risultò lunga tredici miglia
II.
narcisi ancora chiusi, giaggioli acquatici, artemisie comuni
ed erbe rotanti potate dai bordi della palude
la disposizione dei bicchieri buoni della nonna
una vita di malasorte attende coloro che
fanno scivolare minuscole gemme nelle tasche di dietro
come il verde scintillio del mosaico sotto la veneranda polvere
che dunque va rispedito per posta prioritaria a pompei, all’indirizzo:
pompei, vesuvio, italia, e intanto augurati di non inciampare più
sui margini, sbucciandoti le ginocchia
III.
dalla vetrata del ristorante la montagna si è
ricombinata come cubi di Rubic parzialmente risolti
così la cima appare al centro della scena
le macchie del vapore che sale dal nostro cibo l’hanno ulteriormente nascosta
e tu hai cercato di ricostruirne la vera collocazione
nella pesante condensa, nei grigi banchi di nuvole vedo
le tue sopracciglia e mi sembrano due aquile confuse
Oscar Gaynor

Matthew Peers (born in 1991, Manchester). Diplomato alla Slade School of Fine Art, Londra (2010-2014).
Tra le mostre personali recenti segnaliamo: Be-ThenChinge at GAO Gallery, London (2018); Fish and Shrine Sculptures, Troy
Town Art Pottery, London (2017); A Paper Coffee Cup Thinking Of A Cigarette, Fat Relic, London (2017). Le ultime mostre
collettive a cui a preso parte sono: Let’s See Where Were We? In The Pit Of Despair, De Ateliers, Amsterdam (2017); That
Continuos Thing, Artists and the Ceramics Studio, 1920 – Today, Tate St. Ives, St. Ives (2016); LOOKING AT PEOPLE LOOKING
AT ART, curated by Mark Essen, The Division of Labour, Londom (2015); The March Project, Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE (2016);
The Cerebus Syndrome, The Laughing Bell, London (2015); Potteries Thinkbelt, Rob Tufnell (2015); The Rare Earth Medicine
Show, Troy Town Art Pottery, London (2014); Slade Degree Show, Slade School of Art, London (2014); Workhouse, The Elephants
Head, London (2013). Online: THING 004 : TERRAIN, http://formiv.com, ongoing. L’artista vive e lavora a Londra.