LoosenArt Mag / Gallery

Metamorphosis

Posted on June 21 2024

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METAMORPHOSIS │ 7 June - 4 July, 2024
Event curated by LoosenArt
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Text by Silvia Colombo
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Metamorphosis is a constant thread that ties together much of the cultural history of the Western world, beginning with Greek mythology and, through works like Ovid's "Metamorphoses," extending into modernity, culminating in some of the most famous works of the 20th century, such as Kafka's novel, in which the protagonist transforms into an insect.
It is interesting to note how this word elicits multiple responses from the listener—all different and all equally valid. A miniature universe, a wide range of these facets, is encapsulated in the exhibition "Metamorphosis," set up at the Millepiani space in Rome. The exhibition, featuring photographic, video, and digital works, offers a multifaceted reflection on the theme suggested by the title.
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Soy Nando, Day 39, 2023
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Kseniia Antipina, What a Pretty Face / Backface, 2023
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Most of the artists explore a transformative terrain related to humans and their bodies. The images on display that fall into this category start with metamorphosis to delve into broader and deeper themes and reflections. The people portrayed—often wearing masks, costumes, or prosthetics—thus become "other." Other than themselves and other than the world as we know it. They represent a starting point for questions about identity, our continual becoming—growing and aging—and our possibilities. The intersection between fiction and reality, disguise and authenticity, artificial and natural, machine and human, are shadowy (or bright?) areas where metaphors of ourselves, life, and myriad potential events are generated.
Overall, this section can be seen as a meta-dialogue about humans and their technological other, also thanks to the use of digital tools and artificial intelligence, employed to achieve the final result.
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Akriti Sondhi, Do You Know What Colour Hope Is?, 2023
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In a completely consistent way, other artists have focused on the spaces inhabited by bodies: natural, plant-based, and urban environments. These contexts, too, can be influenced by phenomena of metamorphosis. In nature, the seasonal cycles, flowers, and plants undergo constant changes and shape-shifting throughout their life cycles. Some works take on a more scientific classification: we might call them contemporary "naturalia" or "herbariums," in which nature and our surroundings are observed through the unique lens of art.
Regarding places, cities also undergo constant changes, as evidenced by some works in the exhibition, where industrial spaces and iron bridges intertwine, eventually merging into one another.
In summary, if metamorphosis allows us—and everything we inhabit and live in—to change form, adapt, and evolve, the "Metamorphosis" exhibition is itself a global metaphor for what we are or aspire to become.
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Anna Lebedeva, Fear, 2023
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Metamorphosis Exhibition Catalog │Buy it
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Marie Le Moigne, Hysteria III, 2023
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Junghoon Oh, Unseen Echoes, 2023
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Chris Gould, Untitled, Monuments, 2023
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Elli Chalari, Playing & Reality, 2020
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Moko - Stephanie Chotia, #26OrPhJ2.90; #36MaCoQ4.82, 2021 / 2022
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Metamorphosis Exhibition Catalog │Buy it
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METAMORPHOSIS
7 June - 4 July, 2024 
Millepiani - Via N. Odero,13, Rome - IT
linfo@millepiani.eu
+39 06.888.17.620
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