ARTISTS
Paolo Canevari: Self-portrait / Autoritratto
Italian contemporary artist Paolo Canevari is best known for transforming everyday materials and icons into large scale sculptures that confront his audience with stark, political and philosophical commentary. Throughout his career, Canevari has worked in a variety of media, most notably tyres and inner tubes, painting, drawing, performance, animation and film.
The provocative nature of the artists鈥� works, his connections to cutting edge fashion, and his active role within the art scene in New York, where he lived and worked for many years, have kept Canevari in the spotlight of both American and Italian media. Cardi Gallery is proud to present the first major solo show of Canevari鈥檚 work in the UK, an extensive survey exploring thirty years of the artist鈥檚 practice, the culmination of a decades-long collaboration with the gallery. A museum-scale exhibition occupying four floors at Cardi London in Mayfair, 鈥楽elf-portrait / Autoritratto鈥� brings together over 30 works including sculptures, drawings and installation that range from the artist鈥檚 notorious 1990s rubber sculptures through to his most recent ongoing series 鈥楳onuments of the Memory: Landscape鈥� and 鈥楥onstellations鈥�. Many of the exhibits are shown here for the first time.
鈥楽elf-portrait / Autoritratto鈥� aims to illustrate Canevari鈥檚 worldview through the artist鈥檚 deeply introspective creative process. It brings to the fore not only a reflection on the self but also, in the artist鈥檚 words 鈥溾� political reading of making art, intended to measure what Pasolini had defined 鈥渢he injustice of the world鈥�. 鈥淎rt is a democratic, progressive force, so it should ideally serve society, not the powers that be. In my work, the use of icons, symbols, and forms from various cultures is a way of drawing attention to their true meaning, tied to dogmas or other forms of power; they鈥檙e a way to open up a dialogue with the viewer and stimulate a reaction. [鈥 The 鈥減olitical鈥� character of my work is just one of many possible interpretations of what I do.鈥� 鈥淲hat I wish to express is a radical, subversive attitude towards art and the idea of art as it has been conceived and conveyed by globalised consumeristic society, therefore raising the level of moral and ethical perception of the world.鈥�
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Italian contemporary artist Paolo Canevari is best known for transforming everyday materials and icons into large scale sculptures that confront his audience with stark, political and philosophical commentary. Throughout his career, Canevari has worked in a variety of media, most notably tyres and inner tubes, painting, drawing, performance, animation and film.
The provocative nature of the artists鈥� works, his connections to cutting edge fashion, and his active role within the art scene in New York, where he lived and worked for many years, have kept Canevari in the spotlight of both American and Italian media. Cardi Gallery is proud to present the first major solo show of Canevari鈥檚 work in the UK, an extensive survey exploring thirty years of the artist鈥檚 practice, the culmination of a decades-long collaboration with the gallery. A museum-scale exhibition occupying four floors at Cardi London in Mayfair, 鈥楽elf-portrait / Autoritratto鈥� brings together over 30 works including sculptures, drawings and installation that range from the artist鈥檚 notorious 1990s rubber sculptures through to his most recent ongoing series 鈥楳onuments of the Memory: Landscape鈥� and 鈥楥onstellations鈥�. Many of the exhibits are shown here for the first time.
鈥楽elf-portrait / Autoritratto鈥� aims to illustrate Canevari鈥檚 worldview through the artist鈥檚 deeply introspective creative process. It brings to the fore not only a reflection on the self but also, in the artist鈥檚 words 鈥溾� political reading of making art, intended to measure what Pasolini had defined 鈥渢he injustice of the world鈥�. 鈥淎rt is a democratic, progressive force, so it should ideally serve society, not the powers that be. In my work, the use of icons, symbols, and forms from various cultures is a way of drawing attention to their true meaning, tied to dogmas or other forms of power; they鈥檙e a way to open up a dialogue with the viewer and stimulate a reaction. [鈥 The 鈥減olitical鈥� character of my work is just one of many possible interpretations of what I do.鈥� 鈥淲hat I wish to express is a radical, subversive attitude towards art and the idea of art as it has been conceived and conveyed by globalised consumeristic society, therefore raising the level of moral and ethical perception of the world.鈥�
Artists on show
