Ana Genovés (born Madrid, 1969) has made a site-specific installation in a response to the architecture and social site that is the MOCA Project Space. The work is visually ambiguous and could be mistaken for very odd gym furniture for activity centres. It sits on the gallery floor like a fitted carpet next to a solid triangular ladder. The synthetic colour is in stark contrast to the natural wooden floor.
Genovés has said that she makes ‘forms that echo the props of social order; the shapes and objects through which we conduct and arrange our civil space. These conventions often default to a neat geometry to suggest an appearance of control, to mitigate the threat of a subsidence into disorder, into the unknown, or the unfathomable - the collective fear of the Other.’ The objects she makes are often on the verge of one thing or the other, are they sculpture, furniture, or even works in the process of transformation? The objects could even be cryptic readymades. Her works often look as if they are embracing abjection, with askew form, and are just off perfection. Some look completely rough and others as if they might have been broken in transit. She uses concrete, plastics and upholstery in odd textures and with mis-shapes. They employ simple geometries but unlike pristine objects, hers look like they have been kicked about, which is the point. Genovés brings to this new installation a reflection on the role of the viewer, and of that being viewed, and the inherent rules that apply in such interactions. The installation is accompanied by an artist book, a publication by the artist that is a stand alone artwork. Genovés graduated from the Slade as well as the Chelsea College of Art & Design and has exhibited widely in the UK and Europe, she was one of the 2016 Max Mara Finalists and her solo shows include: Standpoint Gallery (2014), the Tannery (2008) and The Approach Gallery (1999). Her group shows include: Fold Gallery (2015), PuntWG, Amsterdam (2015), and 'Drawings by Sculptors', Royal Academy,(2015) and she was selected for the 2014 Glasgow international and the 2012 'The London Open', Whitechapel Art Gallery, 5th Gyumri Biennale, Armenia (2006), 'The Square Show'. Bloomberg Space (2003)and the 2001 Jerwood Sculpture Prize. AMBIANTA coincides with Genovés' inclusion in the touring exhibition Nature Morte: Contemporary artists reinvigorate the Still-Life tradition which runs from May 7 - August 28 at the Konsthallen Bohuslans musem, Sweden. download the catalogue www.anagenoves.co.uk |
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