| ZOÈ GRUNI | Biography | |
| curated by CAMILLA BOEMIO | Browse the Magazine | |
| 28 september – 17 november 2023 |
On the occasion of the opening (28 September, 6.30pm) Camilla Boemio presents the book by Zoè Gruni. Segunda pele, Ed. Metilene, Pistoia 2023
Il Ponte is reopening its doors after the summer break with a solo exhibition dedicated to Zoè Gruni on occasion of the second “Florence Art Week” (28 September – 8 October) which places the city in the centre of contemporary art production.
The exhibition consists of three different projects, presented by way of video installations, video performances, lambda prints on aluminium and mixed techniques on photographic print: Segunda pele, Fromoso and Motherboard.
“My artistic research derives from the need to exorcise the fear of what is different. Starting from inward reflection that tends towards a collective dimension, my body is the catalyst to reach out to others through various kinds of interaction. Performance is the staple in my projects. However, the actions are not devised as a spectacle but as a constantly evolving process…
The different media used in the performances – photography, drawing, sculpture, video and installation – allow me to run the gamut and overlap the various means of expression. I go in for handmade and crafted works that connect me to a popular dimension. Anthropological and sociocultural research has become a more and more important aspect for me. Other people’s participation in my work is also fundamental. I welcome the other into the project and invite them to interact, sometimes in the lead role, other times as partners to create a temporary collective. Working with one’s own ego is very complex. But despite its difficulties, it is precisely what I want to do: experience/experiment life through art” (Zoè Gruni).
SEGUNDA PELE
Segunda pele; 2017/2019, two-channel video installation, 8’42”. Zoè Gruni and Alexis Zelensky. Performance: Anis Yaguar, Iah Bahia, Kaete Terra, Lucas Roberto, Felipe Vasconcellos, Isabella Duvivier Souza, Lucas Wollker, Junior Ferreira and Tati Villela.
The “Segunda pele” (Second Skin) project came about from the need to expand my individual artistic research towards a collective dimension. I have been designing and producing works based on the interaction between body and object, performance and sculpture for several years now – performative objects conceived as extensions of the body, sculptures that can be worn or inhabited using recycled materials. These “second skins” become a sort of filter between my body and the outside world, helping me to tackle unknown territories and drive out difficulties. The necessity to reflect on contemporary society inevitably raises topics such as memory, identity and fear… and the aim has become to transform this dialogue into performative and political action. So I decided to launch this same proposal to other artists, through a course called “Second Skin: Hybrid, Memory, Recycling” which I delivered at the EAV school of visual art (Escola Artes Visuais) in Parque Lage, Rio de Janeiro, for two years between 2017 and 2019. The meetings took place in a climate of coexistence and dialogue, spontaneously bringing together young artists and activists who use their body as a language. Creating contemporary experiences in the era of communication. Mutating identities that need to cry out against the oppression and command respect in an extremely violent and transphobic city, in a colonized country that continues to be racist, in a globalized society that is becoming more unhealthy every day. As they are moving images, we had to make use of audio visual means, prompting the desire to partner filmmaker Alexis Zelensky in order to produce videos drawn from this work. The set for the performers’ actions is the forest of Parque Lage (urban forest in Rio de Janeiro), a place throbbing with life, also fighting to survive in the urban context of the city. Every performance is an authored work springing from individual impulses, but the mosaic of all these actions becomes a collective work. Together subjective differences meet, coming out stronger and united to fight against the “liquid fear” endemic in contemporary society, a fear that wants to divide and so to control us. Despite the difficulties, there is still hope for those who believe in art, and in culture in general, as a vehicle of resistance.
FROMOSO
Fromoso; 2019/2020, video-performance, 2’33”. Filming and editing: Lyana Peck and Naiara Azevedo; performance: Ana Kavalis; music: Jeff Gburek.
Fromoso, lambda print on aluminium, 100x150cm.
Fromoso 1-2-3-4-5-6; lambda print on aluminium, 17x30cm.
“Fromoso” is a video performance inspired by the concept of anthropophagia. The action was carried out in a carnival float graveyard in the port area of Rio de Janeiro. The body of Cuban dancer Ana Kavalis abandons itself in an esoteric ritual which totally absorbs her until she disappears. The soundtrack, made especially for the project, is by Polish musician Jeff Gburek.
MOTHERBOARD
Motherboard 1-2-3-4-5-6-7; 2023, mixed technique on photographic print, 65x98cm.
The “motherboard” is responsible for the transmission and correct timing of hundreds of different signals, all at high frequency and sensitive to disturbances between processors, expansion boards and external peripherals. Therefore, for a performative and reliable circuit it is vital that the motherboard is well made. “Motherboard” is a project on motherhood. It is a series of photographic images caught with the automatic release during moments of play with my son. The “painted mask” applied to them leads to the continual transformation of the characters and at times to the inversion of the role of mother and son. Irony and drama blend together as well as symbolic elements borrowed from the collective memory: antiquity, mythology, pop culture, digital technology and social themes.
