ART-PREVIEW:Monica Bonvicini-RE Pleasure RUN

Monica Bonvicini, Fire, 2016, Tempera and spray paint on paper, 175 by 260 cm, © the artist, Courtesy Mitchell-Innes & Nash Gallery
Monica Bonvicini, Fire, 2016, Tempera and spray paint on paper, 175 by 260 cm, © the artist, Courtesy Mitchell-Innes & Nash Gallery

Monica Bonvicini’s work investigates the relationships between architecture, control, gender, space, surveillance, and power. Using sculpture, installation, video, photography, text and performance, her work ranges from the intimate to the architectural in scale, questioning some of the often hidden forces that shape identity. Bonvicini establishes a critical connection with the space where it is exhibited, the materials that define it, and the roles of the spectator and the creator.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Mitchell-Innes & Nash Archive

“RE pleasure RUN” an exhibition of new works by Monica Bonvicini is on presentation at Mitchell-Innes & Nash Gallery in New York. The exhibition includes painting, photography, neon works and 2 new large-scale sculptures, showcasing her interest in the relationships between gender, architecture and the power dynamics that shape our world. The exhibition centers around the installation “Structural Psychodramas #2”, in which the artist uses temporary walls in the gallery to create a new architectural environment. The walls are bare and slightly tilted in order to support small murano glass sculptures. As the title suggests, the work is part of a new series in which the artist uses the walls of institutions and galleries to undermine the structural functionality of such places, while also prescribing them with an open possibility for an imaginary performance.  On the links between sexuality and architecture Bonvicini says “Architecture defines our identity. Books like Discrimination by Design by Leslie Kanes Weisman really opened my eyes to how much urban architecture influences us. The home you grow up in, the city you go and start living your life in… it’s definitely these things that define your identity, including your sexual identity. Is that city right or left leaning? Is it dark at night? How a city defines perversions and the physical environment is still an important issue”. Bonvicini also presents 2 large-scale neon light sculptures. One neon sign boldly reads “NO MORE MASTURBATION”. The sign issues an imperative to the viewer but also raises a question about the significance of desire and pleasure in the current hyper-capitalist moment: is pleasure possible without the goal of productivity? Two monumental pictorial works occupy the gallery’s east and west walls. The first, a black-and-white varnish painting in four panels titled “Mountain Town” (2015) depicts a California house burning from a fire, its structure reduced to a bare framework. Beginning with the series “Hurricanes and Other Catastrophes”, notions of catastrophe and destruction have been recurrent themes for Bonvicini.  The present work belongs to a more recent series focused on man-made catastrophes, mostly homes being destroyed by natural causes, which are the consequences of the effects of global warming.  The second large-scale image is a wallpapered photograph that depicts two male workers building a brick wall. The image recalls a billboard advertisement, but without geographical identifiers and with the workers faces obscured.

Info: Mitchell-Innes & Nash Gallery, 534 West 26th Street, New York, Duration: 23/2-1/4/17, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, www.miandn.com