Tiger Economy
Wallpaper sculptures and mixed media installation by Ludovica Gioscia
April 9, 2009 – May 23, 2009
Sara Tecchia Roma New York is proud to present Ludovica Gioscia's debut solo show in New York: Tiger Economy.
Ludovica Gioscia's (b. 1977) wallpaper sculptures and mixed media installations are an encompassing synthesis of elements drawn from centuries of art making/movements, specifically Baroque, Arte Povera, Pop Art, the rave culture of the '80s and the mass-media entertainment culture found in Las Vegas and on MTV. While the artist acknowledges the historical past, the works are a decisive reaction and critique of our historical present.
The main installation, Tiger Economy, is a free standing island, the title of which is a direct reference to the overly aggressive character of the current financial times and to one of the artist's main sources of inspiration: East Asia. The main structure is inspired by the vertical high-rises of Hong Kong and is floating on a thundercloud child-scale island base. The Japanese inspired screens are decorated with silk-screened wallpaper that the artist layers and tears away revealing contrasting patterns, as Gioscia describes: "culled from sources of different periods they trace visual histories of luxury and decadence. Together they formulate a scrambled language of the cacophonic times we live in." The wallpaper motifs are either custom made by Gioscia or found during her travels and are also employed by the artist for her new wall sculptures, Beheaded Monarchs. Named after famous and decadent characters e.g. Madame du Barry, Marie Antoinette, they attach to the wall with the aid of magnets. The shapes echo that of marble heads but Gioscia substitutes the preferred medium of Baroque sculptors and the most permanent of all materials, marble, with paper, the most ephemeral. Thus, although folded in a seductively stylish/playful manner and inspired by Gian Lorenzo Bernini's 17th century folded stone draperies, the cornices of Baroque palaces as well as Walt Disney characters and symbols of club/drug culture, i.e. the smiley face, the Beheaded Monarchs point to the excesses and disposable nature of today's consumer culture.
Ludovica Gioscia was born in Rome but lives and works in London and has shown widely internationally. Recent projects include the Jerwood Foundation, London, UK, the South London Gallery and Tadu Contemporary in Bangkok. Gioscia was also featured in the book "Collage" by Blackdog Publishing Calling and was listed in Flash Art's "The London Artists Dictionary" (October 2008). The artist will exhibit in a solo show at Siobhan Davies Studios, London, UK in September 2009, and will participate in a group exhibition at the Fundaci— Joan Mir—, Barcelona, Spain, in February 2010.
SARA TECCHIA ROMA NEW YORK
