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(ex)communicateJanuary 21 - February 27, 2010
Thursday 21 January 2010 brings the launch of a new exhibition venue in Milan: the Jerome Zodo Contemporary. In via Lambro, at the corner of via Melzo, hard up against the vestiges of the Spanish Walls at Porta Venezia, in one of the most dynamic, fastest changing neighbourhoods in the metropolitan area of Milan, Jerome Zodo has commissioned the A++ architecture office of Milan (www.a2plus.it) to convert the interior of what used to be the Artdecò café into an art gallery. This is a totally new concept of art gallery, a complete departure from tradition, devised as a different kind of display space: more than just a background for the works of art, it also acts as a protagonist that participates in the contents, so is capable of dialoguing and melding with the works on show, generating a single and singular artistic experience. In the words of architect Paolo Colombo, “the ceiling acts as a place of aggregation: cubes of glass are suspended overhead between the original steel girder columns, describing a new display layout. The visitor’s attention is drawn upwards, where these cubes, looking like so many geometric nests, generate an almost organic ambience, all decisive lines and transparent forms. The floor plays the neutral role of the surface underfoot. The result is that the artist’s message is not confined within the limits of the work of art any more, but blends with the surrounding space, encompassing the observer.” The Jerome Zodo Contemporary will open its new location to the public by hosting the exhibition (Ex)communicate from 21 January to 27 February 2010, a group show of Italian and international artists, featuring Simmons & Burke, Terry Chatkupt, Zackary Drucker, Ben Grasso, Tigran Khachatryan, Simon Senn, Andrew Schoultz, Federico Solmi and Bertold Stallmach. The approach adopted by the curator focused on selecting artists who share the same philosophy as the gallery itself: to put the focus on the individual who is experiencing the work of art. As Jerome Zodo himself explains, “We have been running the risk of losing this focus because the media are so aggressive and arrogant about art. It is pretty clear now that the mass media tend to communicate mostly about themselves, to the detriment of contents, and that any value that comes into contact with them gets sucked up and trivialised in their mechanism of self-reference”. Each of the artists involved here suggests that visitors set out on a journey that will enable them to generate their own perception of reality and shape their own impressions of the contents. Often making use of the tools typical of the everyday consumption of mass communications, the invited artists do not focus their work on it, but exploit its mechanisms, instantly shifting visitors’ attention beyond the cognitive process. The exhibition is a preview of the Jerome Zodo Contemporary’s future programme in months to come, when each of the artists invited on this occasion will be returning with a personal show. A performance by artist Zackary Drucker will be held at 8.00 p.m. on the evening of the gallery launch, Thursday 21 January 2010. The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue with essays by Irina zucca Alessandrelli and Géraldine Zodo. |
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