In Vienna, Berlin-based Italian artist Monica Bonvicini is exploring history, memory, and power via an architectural vocabulary in ‘Stagecage’.
The show’s title is inspired by the 2017 exhibition ‘StageCraft’ at Columbia University, which showcased intricate models of buildings by legendary architects including Le Corbusier, Norman Foster, and Peter Zumthor.
In Bonvicini’s show, which runs until 30 October 2021, cool-cut aluminium structures are bound by a mass of knotted watches and leather belts. On the sleek, gleaming surface, these are family homes on a doll’s-house scale, perhaps drawing on themes of domesticity. But these are far from homely; they are prison-like structures with another subtext: sexuality, fetish and humour, and the suffocating cages of patriarchal structures.
The artist, who was awarded the Golden Lion at the Biennale di Venezia in 1999 is known for large-scale works and a versatile approach to materials and media. Through
performance, photography, video, painting, collage and text-based pieces, Bonvicini explores architecture and its relationship to identity, sexuality, control, gender, space, surveillance, and power; sinister meets sublime in a cavern of intrigue.
Placed on reflective surfaces, her houses appear suspended or extended. Bonvicini’s use of mirrors is both an illusion and a reminder: all that shines must be maintained through hard, continuous labour and care. The houses look unoccupied, but there are hidden forces in the absent space: feminist desires, witty fancies and a lot of questions.
Visitors also find Willy Guhl’s iconic midcentury 'Loop' chairs for Eternit shrouded in leather aprons, and the new neon work Joy, Power, Humor & Resistance, 2021 which glows with authority, empowerment and ambiguity. The work is evocative of billboard advertisement in form, but its content asserts a message of courage against capitalist oppression. Joy, Power, Humor & Resistance is duplicated by the large-scale wall piece, Elsewhere In Be Your Mirror, 2020, which traps its surroundings and all those who spectate in hazy reflection. §
INFORMATION
Monica Bonvicini, ‘Stagecage’, until 30 October 2021, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, galerie-krinzinger.at
-
Revolutionary Apple icon designer Susan Kare unveils a playful jewellery and objet collaboration with Asprey StudioAsprey Studio's new collection, Esc Keys, brings digital artworks by Susan Kare to life
-
What is the role of fragrance in contemporary culture, asks a new exhibition at 10 Corso ComoMilan concept store 10 Corso Como has partnered with London creative agency System Preferences to launch Olfactory Projections 01
-
Jack White's Third Man Records opens a Paris pop-upJack White's immaculately-branded record store will set up shop in the 9th arrondissement this weekend
-
Remembering Oliviero Toscani, fashion photographer and author of provocative Benetton campaignsBest known for the controversial adverts he shot for the Italian fashion brand, former art director Oliviero Toscani has died, aged 82
-
Distracting decadence: how Silvio Berlusconi’s legacy shaped Italian TVStefano De Luigi's monograph Televisiva examines how Berlusconi’s empire reshaped Italian TV, and subsequently infiltrated the premiership
-
Louis Fratino leans into queer cultural history in ItalyLouis Fratino’s 'Satura', on view at the Centro Pecci in Italy, engages with queer history, Italian landscapes and the body itself
-
Inside Jack Whitten’s contribution to American contemporary artAs Jack Whitten exhibition ‘Speedchaser’ opens at Hauser & Wirth, London, and before a major retrospective at MoMA opens next year, we explore the American artist's impact
-
Frieze Sculpture takes over Regent’s ParkTwenty-two international artists turn the English gardens into a dream-like landscape and remind us of our inextricable connection to the natural world
-
Harlem-born artist Tschabalala Self’s colourful ode to the landscape of her childhoodTschabalala Self’s new show at Finland's Espoo Museum of Modern Art evokes memories of her upbringing, in vibrant multi-dimensional vignettes
-
Wanås Konst sculpture park merges art and nature in SwedenWanås Konst’s latest exhibition, 'The Ocean in the Forest', unites land and sea with watery-inspired art in the park’s woodland setting
-
Pino Pascali’s brief and brilliant life celebrated at Fondazione PradaMilan’s Fondazione Prada honours Italian artist Pino Pascali, dedicating four of its expansive main show spaces to an exhibition of his work
