Out of Joint
January 20, 2023–February 26, 2023
All the artists featured in this exhibition turn everyday life on its head, creating a short circuit between reality and illusion. Everything is perfectly clear and nothing makes sense. Each picture is the crossroads between a dark fairy tale and a joke. Sometimes carefully constructed down to the smallest detail, sometimes completely random, these photographs are a set of memories so blurred that they can be continuously reinvented by the viewer, who gets lost in the impossibility of defining what is familiar and what is not, what is chosen and what is random.
Curated by Alice Sossella
Artists include Guy Bolongaro, Emiliano Gori, Agustín Hernandez, Eva Ostrowska, Sage Szkabarnicki-Stuart, Karolina Wojtas, and Lu Yufan
Exhibition text, written by Alice Sossella:
July. Early afternoon. In the bedroom, a mannequin rants for no reason; it has been worked up since yesterday.
Sister 1 enters the room to get the gloves that she intends to burn because they always lead her astray (they have proven to be truly tenacious, worse than last year's shoes), but the usual oblivious specter, whom we only see in the mirror, because heaven forbid it has the courage to reveal itself, says that it would be better just to chuck them, otherwise they’ll get offended and then they’ll really lash out. The mannequin disagrees: it throws a coat hanger, losing its head in the process, and hits the specter. Who doesn’t bat an eyelid, of course. But what did it expect? They start arguing as usual. Enough, she can't stand it anymore, nobody listens to her: Sister 1 jumps from the window and runs away wearing the gloves. In the meantime, Sister 2 enters the house, takes off her muddy shoes and, still dressed for a party, goes into the kitchen to look for her hen. Sure, she went too far last night with that masked madman who wanted to eat the dog, but she did the right thing, he had to be punished. Respect for animals above all else. She loves her hen so much. She picks it up, strokes it and gives it little kisses. The hen is crazy and she knows it, but she predicts the future and erases the past, so obviously it must be respected. I mean, I respect her too and I don't even know her. But she’s got to stop acting as though she’s in charge and bossing everyone around. Do this/do that gets boring after a while. So anyway, she’s there wallowing in a mixture of guilt and gratitude when she sees Sister 1 plummeting down from above. Luckily, she had her gloves on, which cushion the blow and then off they go of their own accord, by that point exhausted. So, it was fate, thinks Sister 1. No, it wasn’t, the indignant hen screams (who also counts mind reading among her various talents). Stop judging, screams Sister 2.
The three start arguing animatedly but when Sister 1 sees her reflection in the fridge and remembers that she is also Sister 2, she gets a fright and decides it might be best to go and get some fresh air.
She goes out into the garden and catches those nosy neighbors sunbathing there with their stitched-on smiles as if no tragedy were taking place.
Opening reception:
Friday, January 20, 6-8pm
191 Henry Street, 10002