|
|
|
|
Raffaella Cortese
Via Farneti 10, 20129 Milano
,
Italy
Tel.++39 02 2043555
Fax++39 02 2043555
Hours: Tue.-Sat. 3pm/7pm and by appointment
Contact: Raffaella Cortese
E-mail: rcortgal@tin.it
|
| Raffaella Cortese |
| |
Kiki Smith
The Raffaella Cortese gallery is delighted to be showcasing the first Italian solo show of work by American artist Kiki Smith. Smith has been a noted figure in the panorama of international art since the ’80s for her exploration of the body in its social, cultural, sexual, and religious manifestations, as well as the font of our affections and emotions. Towards the mid-’90s, the artist’s interest moved from the human body itself to that which surrounds it: the universe, the environment, and the animal kingdom, her portrayals of which drew freely on materials such as bronze, papier-mâché, glass, and clay in techniques ranging from sculpture and photography, through drawing and engraving. Employing these elements to bring her chosen subject matter to life, Smith speaks to the viewer about the dreams and nightmares of our times, often finding inspiration in myths, in the panic instinct in nature, in tales of fairies and sirens, and in religious iconography. The artist’s most recent installations reveal the contemporaneous physicality and fragility of all living beings.
For this, her first solo show in Milan, Smith presents a series of works that have been created specifically for the gallery. In the first room, is a floor-based installation titled Sirens, constituting six variously sized bronzes. In the second, three large-scale graphic works surround two freestanding pieces in the center of the room: a sculpture, Eve, is in dialogue with another bronze work entitled Calling. Lining the corridor are some drawings on paper entitled Double Heads, which bring us, after our dip into the magical world of mythology, once again to the human. In the gallery’s Project Room a new series of photographs exploring the female body have been displayed.
Kiki Smith was born in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1954, although she has lived and worked in New York since the late ’70s. She has shown in numerous group exhibitions and participated in the most important international art events: Whitney Biennial of American Art in 1991 and 1993; the Open section of the 1993 Venice Biennale; Post Human, 1992/93.
Smith has also been the subject of several prestigious solo shows including ones at the New York MOMA (Projects: Kiki Smith, 1990), at the Center for Contemporary Art in Geneva, and at Anthony D’Offay Gallery in London and Pace Wildenstein in New York.
|
|
|
|
|
contact
us 
