The Family
Posted on August 23 2023
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The Family │ July 28 - September 14, 2023
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.Author / Curator Silvia Colombo, Antonio Muratore
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The family, as a bundle of social relations as well as a mess of feelings, is part of everyone’s life. More or less consciously, more or less positively.
It is a gigantic box rich in thoughts and objects that we bear with us from the time we are born. And it is for sure something we have in common that, at the same time, is personal and unique.
Implicitly, when a large number of people think about the meaning of the word ‘family’, they refer to a huge variety of different worlds, traditions, and habits. In this melting pot, conservative as well as modern understandings and ideas are included. And not just blood ties - dominated by biology and genetics - belong to this complex muddle, but even the connections happened by chance and the ones that are picked for a reason. In any case, all of them can either keep us company for a part of our lives, or last forever.
It is a gigantic box rich in thoughts and objects that we bear with us from the time we are born. And it is for sure something we have in common that, at the same time, is personal and unique.
Implicitly, when a large number of people think about the meaning of the word ‘family’, they refer to a huge variety of different worlds, traditions, and habits. In this melting pot, conservative as well as modern understandings and ideas are included. And not just blood ties - dominated by biology and genetics - belong to this complex muddle, but even the connections happened by chance and the ones that are picked for a reason. In any case, all of them can either keep us company for a part of our lives, or last forever.
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All this recurs as the main theme of the group exhibition “The Family”, open at the Millepiani space in Rome throughout the whole summer. Attempting to gather all the thoughts surrounding this emotional narrative, that at times is complicated, special but also extremely troubled, here are some keys to get the exhibition at a deeper level.
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Mark Warner, Untitled Family Portrait No. 1, 2022
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Overall, the visual path could be summed up with three keywords, leading us through the photos, videos and digital works presented by the artists on show.
Family as PRESENCE.
Family as ABSENCE.
Family as MEMORIES.
This is because the discourse arisen by these artworks revolves around all the people that are (or were) part of our lives, and those who disappeared. In all cases, it deals with transient human relations that, over time, interweave and separate - again and again.
Family as PRESENCE.
Family as ABSENCE.
Family as MEMORIES.
This is because the discourse arisen by these artworks revolves around all the people that are (or were) part of our lives, and those who disappeared. In all cases, it deals with transient human relations that, over time, interweave and separate - again and again.
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In general, the fact that the artists themselves meet the challenge by baring their souls, and their own lives completely, is quite remarkable. Within the exhibition rooms, their stories are illustrated both visually and emotionally. They expose and reveal themselves before the eye of the beholder, showing what is under their skin and ready to feel and raise reactions.
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Noah Wilson, Elijah's Black Eye / Abi Brushing Her Hair, 2021
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Sometimes noticeable biographic facts are displayed; some other times, a meaningful face, a body, or significant memories are at the centre of the works.
The pictures and videos here presented centre around glimpses of life, leaving room for wide and open interpretations. The diverse nuances of mother-child relationship - the biologic and non biologic, the idyllic as well as the toxic ones - are exhibited in great detail. Or, again, a house where a series of varied occurrences has been happening, suddenly becomes a symbol for a family. If only those walls could talk…
The pictures and videos here presented centre around glimpses of life, leaving room for wide and open interpretations. The diverse nuances of mother-child relationship - the biologic and non biologic, the idyllic as well as the toxic ones - are exhibited in great detail. Or, again, a house where a series of varied occurrences has been happening, suddenly becomes a symbol for a family. If only those walls could talk…
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Altogether, the family could be considered as a meeting place, a form of communion between people. Or, on the contrary, it is a space where clashes and separations happen. In both cases, dealing with family means emptying a heavy and yet so delicate box where we preserve our and our people’s lives.
A walk through the exhibition rooms, looking at these art pieces, thus becomes of great importance, since we are able to mirror and identify ourselves in the visual stories illustrated by the artists on show.
A walk through the exhibition rooms, looking at these art pieces, thus becomes of great importance, since we are able to mirror and identify ourselves in the visual stories illustrated by the artists on show.
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Constanza Oxenford, Madre Zoe, 2021
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Constanza Oxenford, Misterio, 2021
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Ira Kaminsky, Toxic Patterns / Breaking The Cycle / New Life, 2023
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Maura Jamieson, Light Interiors, 2021
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Victor Kataev, Dapio, 2016 - 2022
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Weiting Zhang, Growing Up, 2021
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Pauline Pimolle, Le Silence, 2019
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B. Wells Douglas, Mickey, 2020
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THE FAMILY
July 28th - September 14th, 2023
Millepiani - Via N. Odero,13, Rome - IT
linfo@millepiani.eu
+39 06.888.17.620
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