Aesthetics and materiality of form are the basis of the investigation that artist Luciana Lamothe (Buenos Aires, 1975) conducts into the dialogue between body and sculpture. It is an important return to the Lagoon for the artist, protagonist of a solo exhibition at Alberta Pane Gallery and, at the same time, of the Argentina Pavilion at the 60th Venice Art Biennale, with Ojalà se derrumban las puertas, a project curated by Sofía Dourron and considered by many to be one of this year’s best proposals.
Luciana Lamothe, “Folding Roads”, 2024, exhibition view, ph. Irene Fanizza, courtesy Alberta Pane Venice
In Folding Roads, the solo show hosted in the Venetian venue of the Alberta Pane Gallery, Lamothe expresses herself with sculptures, works on paper, photographs and videos made over the last decade. We find again the majestic Untitled (2018), a sculpture previously presented by the Gallery and strongly desired by the artist for this occasion: innocent tubes bend in an anomalous way, appearing to simulate two wings in the abandonment of their original nature for a new and light form; they thus underline how all materials conceal a dynamic and flexible soul, a fundamental concept in Lamothe’s artistic practice. Paired with it we find second ‘winged’ sculpture made of innocent pipes, also called Untitled. Constructed from the same materials, Untitled (2014) aims to engage the viewer in a harmonious combination of balance and interlocking, surprising him/her once again with an unusual use of materials and a perfect synthesis of balanced geometry. «Surprisingly, in front of a work by the Argentinian artist, we realise that the matter that surrounds us, apparently defenceless and purely at the service of the human being, is actually pulsating and relational» Ilaria Gianni states in the critical text accompanying the Venetian exhibition.
Luciana Lamothe, “Folding Roads”, 2024, exhibition view, ph. Irene Fanizza, courtesy Alberta Pane Venice
Hands are a recurring tool in the exhibition, essential in the artist’s exploration of the properties of materials and the perception of them in relation to traditional human notions. In the Perspectiva series (2012), the artist’s hands, prevalent and in the foreground of the photographic frame, capture the silhouette of an unsuspecting passer-by, who is ‘measured’ by them. They return as protagonists in the drawings exhibited (pencil and pastel on paper, 2022-2024), where they seem to be captured, on red and dark hues, in the act of creating, working, interacting, emulating – like Chinese shadows – the manipulation of matter or even the tool they are using. The sculptures from the Adentro series (2022) are handles to which the artist has slightly altered the shape and material, making them lose their original function as elements necessary to open and pass through doors and consequently spaces.
Luciana Lamothe, “Saliva – Perspectiva”, 2012, “Folding Roads”, exhibition view, ph. Irene Fanizza, courtesy Alberta Pane Venice
Caja Tarra Silla Marco is a video (6’52”) from 2011, filmed in a rural landscape, in which the artist moves, camera in hand, between waste, nature and industrial architecture, telling us about an important part of herself: her fascination with industrial materials and constructions. As a continuation of these introspective details that bring us closer to Lamothe’s universe, Retrato Borde (2022), a photographic series where a fleeting and temporary image in a city puddle reflects, like Narcissus, the artist’s body cast in water and urban waste.
Luciana Lamothe, “Ojalá se derrumben las puertas”, 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, photo by: Davide Ronfini, courtesy: La Biennale di Venezia
The materials the artist uses, mainly steel, innocent pipes and wood, return in the large project Ojalá se derrumben las puertas (If only the doors would collapse at the 60th Venice Biennale. In the Argentina Pavilion, in the Sale d’Armi of the Arsenale, large sculptures invite visitors to explore beyond the usual spatial boundaries within which we normally move, stimulating a reflection on the limits imposed by space, both tangible and intangible (social, mental, etc.). The title of the large installation recalls an ardent desire for change. Through the transformation of wood, the main material of the work, the mind opens up to infinite roads that show us different possible paths, where the trees cross axes in their entirety, harmonising in a loving struggle that seems to have stopped only for the pleasure of being admired. In this encounter-clash, openings open up that invite us not to remain impassive, but to let ourselves be guided by imagination, emotion and surprise.
Luciana Lamothe, “Ojalá se derrumben las puertas”, 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, photo by: Davide Ronfini, courtesy: La Biennale di Venezia
Luciana Lamothe creates an engaging sensory experience, prompting us to set aside our habitual perceptions and immerse ourselves in a labyrinth of potential. The work, as curator Sofía Dourron points out, proposes «a way of relating to materials (and to the world) that, although full of tension, allows a generative balance of exchange and solidarity».To create the sculptures in the pavilion, recycled wood from the Argentine Pavilion at the previous Architecture Biennale was used, besides wood salvaged from a Venetian gondola carpentry, an abandoned ship and other hidden places in the city. An unmissable event that crowns the presentations of Lamothe’s works: a talk with the artist on 21 September at 3pm, in the Argentine Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
Info:
Luciana Lamothe. Folding Roads
16/04 – 28/09/2024
Galleria Alberta Pane
Calle dei Guardiani 2403/h Dorsoduro – 30123 Venezia
Opening days and hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 10.30am – 6.30pm
Note: The gallery will be closed from July 30th to August 25th 2024
albertapane.com
Ojalá se derrumben las puertas
Artworks by Luciana Lamothe
curated by Sofía Dourron
20/05 – 24/11/2024
Padiglione Argentina, Arsenale di Venezia, Biennale di Venezia
Campo della Tana 2169/F, Venezia
https://www.labiennale.org/
Independent curator specialized in Argentine art, with studies and publications on the subject (“Argentina at the Venice Biennale of Art” in Storie della Biennale di Venezia, Ed. Ca’ Foscari, 2020), founder in 2014 of arteargentina.it, the first Italian platform dedicated to Argentine art in Italy. She currently collaborates in Venice with galleries and artists.
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