Exhibition

Metamorfismo

1 Feb 2024 – 23 Mar 2024

Regular hours

Thursday
11:00 – 19:00
Friday
11:00 – 19:00
Saturday
11:00 – 19:00
Monday
11:00 – 19:00
Tuesday
11:00 – 19:00
Wednesday
11:00 – 19:00

Free admission

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Duo show "Metamorfismo" seeks to highlight the modes of fluidity and transformation of nature while questioning this very notion through two materials as different as silk and granite.

About

It is well known that the butterfly has a developmental stage characterized by the creation of a protective cocoon for the chrysalis, consisting of an extensive silk thread produced by the caterpillar as it withdraws for metamorphosis. But change is not the sole prerogative of living things: even solid stones explore other aspects. Metamorphism is the name given to the transformation of rocks by changes in temperature or pressure that affect their mineral composition. This transition from one state to another, this physical change that culminates in a different state, is the axis that guides the conversation created by the works of Nino Bulling (Berlin, 1986) and Francisco Leiro (Cambados, 1957).

On the one hand, Leiro's sculptures in this exhibition draw on the synthesis and schematic approach typical of classical Cycladic culture, as well as pre-Columbian art (especially Aztec and Olmec sculpture) and contribute to the creation of an atmosphere in which the earthly and the ethereal alternate. Think, for example, of Goethe, sitting on an exposed piece of granite at the top of a mountain, reflecting on the ancient discovery of this material, which is at the same time “the highest and the deepest [...] the solid ground of our earth, and the serene silence of that solitary and mute proximity of great, silent nature. Unlike the fertile valleys, the granite peaks have never produced or swallowed anything living: they exist before and are superior to all life”.

The choice of material gives weight to the sculptures, but their representation is light: they are birds whose nature is not clear. They seem to be in a state of metamorphosis, so that the observer perceives a block of granite as a bird, or perhaps the other way round? As Roger Caillois points out in an excerpt from his reflections on mimicry and legendary psychasthenia: “With its wings outstretched, the butterfly thus becomes the head of a large bird of prey. The clearest example is undoubtedly the caligo butterfly of the Brazilian forests, which Vignon described as follows: ‘There is a bright spot surrounded by a ring of eyelids, then superimposed circular rings of small, irregularly colored radial feathers, all of which perfectly imitate the plumage of an owl, while the body of the butterfly corresponds to its beak’...”.

A clear taxonomy of the species represented by Leiro is both impossible and sterile. Their chameleon-like vocation also allows us to intuit them as a shell in which different forms and perceptions are manifested.

On the other hand, Bulling challenges the idea of a natural, rigid, and unchanging essentialism and explores the possibilities of fluidity in these

dissident characters. The scenes sketched on silk seek to blur the boundaries between the visible and the hidden, like the silkworm constructing its shelter: the material that initially conceals the transformation is the one that is eventually torn to reveal the final form. The silk conveys delicacy and malleability; partially transparent, the canvases are superimposed according to the viewer's angle and the light that falls on them.

In these intimate encounters, the artist offers representations of relationships and identities that are often absent from mainstream narratives. These are not constructed in isolation, but also through the gaze and desire of others. Bulling seems to propose that the creation of everyday scenes, strongly influenced by his artistic practice around the graphic novel and illustrated narrative, underpins the defense of a diverse imaginary. These characters explore the entire spectrum of gender and its expression, immortalized on a surface that is also changing and mutable.

This selection seeks to highlight nature's modes of fluidity and transformation, while questioning this very notion through two materials as different as silk and granite. In both cases, the works exploit the differences in weight, consistency, density, surface tension and gravity that characterize these organic elements. In their apparent simplicity, Bulling's evocative Chinese ink paintings on silk and Leiro's majestic granite totem poles allow for multiple interpretations of this contrast. Indeed, it would seem that the strictest duty of the works here is to engage in a profound and continuous process of metamorphosis and metamorphism, constantly altering their innermost structure and incorporating the nature of change into this exercise of transformation, transmutation, transfiguration: so many steps leading to the revelation of an acquired or chosen form of consciousness or identity, without an end point.

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Exhibiting artistsToggle

Francisco Leiro

Nino Bulling

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