Opening 16 Aprile ore 19.00

La galleria Monitor è orgogliosa di presentare la prima personale italiana dell’artista inglese Nathaniel Mellors.
Focus della mostra sarà il nuovo video The Seven Ages of Britain Teaser, commissionato dall’emittente britannica BBC per la nuova serie televisiva The Seven Ages of Britain presentata dal famoso showman David Dimbledy.
In linea con l’aspetto visionario del lavoro di Mellors in bilico tra uno humor in perfetto stile Monty Pyton unito all’ispirazione per icone del cinema e del teatro come punto di partenza per osservazioni relative alla lingua, all’appropriazione culturale e alle strutture del potere, lo sguardo dell’artista si focalizza ora sulla comunicazione televisiva e sul ruolo che essa ricopre nella società contemporanea.
Attraverso la scrittura, elemento chiave nel lavoro dell’artista, Mellors è in grado di trasformare il linguaggio in materiale visivo attraverso il quale sviluppare contenuti legati alla storia, alla letteratura e all’aspetto psicologico legato ad esse.
L’assurdo script originale da cui The Seven Ages of Britain Teaser prende vita, tratta del controllo del linguaggio e dell’invenzione dell’alfabeto riflettendo sull’importanza dei media e della TV cosi come della figura del presentatore televisivo nella cornice della Storia.
Una giunonica donna in dorati abiti futuristici litiga e lotta con una sorta di nano medioevale dal nome Kadmus (nome che deriva da King Kadmus, inventore dell’alfabeto fonetico) per il controllo di una faccia di plastica-calco perfetto del viso del presentatore Dimbledy-attraverso la quale credono di poter “controllare l’era moderna”.
Come nella migliore tradizione comica inglese, i due perdono ridicolarmente l’equilibrio e la faccia precipita rovinosamente nel vuoto, attraverso il cielo e le nuvole.
La voce di Dimbledy assume toni preoccupati e lamentevoli e la faccia ormai priva degli occhi precipita in un crescendo accorato di frasi dal sapore ancor più esistenzialista, per venir poi recuperata dallo stesso presentatore nelle acque del Tamigi, il quale con assoluta nonchalance continua la sua normale narrazione sui mutamenti operati nella storia dell’arte attraverso i secoli.
In mostra sarà anche presente una scultura inedita, la testa animatronica mutuata dal viso di Dimbledy, sulla quale si incentra l’intero video.

  La mostra è realizzata grazie al supporto della Mondriaan Foundation, Amsterdam e dell’Ambasciata Olandese, Roma

Nathaniel Mellors, 1974 Doncaster, Inghilterra. Ha recentemente terminato la sua residenza presso la Rijksakademie, Amsterdam e vive tra Londra and Amsterdam.
Solo Shows: 2009 Giantbum, Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam; Giantblum, Lombard-Freid Projects, New York; The Time Sourgeon, South London Gallery, Londra.
Group Shows: 2010 British Art Show, Hayward Gallery &UK Touring; 2009: Recent Acquisitions, De Hallen, Haarlem, Olanda;  Giantbum, Altermodern, Tate Britain, London;  Art&Research 2008, Centro Cultural Montehermoso, Vitoria-Gasteiz e Stedelijk Museum Bureau, Amsterdam; The Time Surgeon, New Forest Pavilion, 53rd Venice Biennial; Contour 2009, 4th Biennal of Moving Image, Mechelen, Belgium e De Hallen, Haarlem, Olanda; The Time Surgeon, South London Gallery (2009), Manifesto Marathon, Serpentine Gallery, London (2008), Art Now, Tate Britain, London (2008), The Time Surgeon, Biennale de Lyon (2007) e Hateball, Alison Jacques Gallery, London (2006).

Fino al 29 Maggio 2010

MONITOR
Palazzo Sforza Cesarini
via Sforza Cesarini 43a-44 00186 Roma
00390639378024

www.monitoronline.org

La galleria è aperta dal martedì al sabato dalle 13 alle 19


Opening April 16th 2010, 7pm

Monitor is proud to present the first solo show in Italy of British artist Nathaniel Mellors.
The focus of the show will be Mellors’s new video, The 7 Ages of Britain Teaser, commissioned by the BBC for recent t.v. series The Seven Ages of Britain, presented by David Dimbleby.
The 7 Ages of Britain Teaser continues the visionary quality of Mellors’ previous works; combining aspects of film and theatre with an absurdist, Monty Python-esque humour to explore issues of power and control within cultural structures. Having previously made works under the influence of television the BBC commission has enabled Mellors to make a work about T.V. for television.
Mellors’ script for The 7 Ages of Britain Teaser is about the control of language and the invention of the alphabet. It also reflects on the role of television in the creation of historical narratives. A statuesque woman in futuristic gold robes squabbles with a kind of Medieval dwarf named Kadmus (from King Cadmus, credited by the Ancient Greeks with the introduction of the phonetic alphabet) over a highly naturalistic silicon prosthesis of the face of David Dimbleby which they believe will grant them control of “The Modern Age”.
In the best tradition of English comedy, both contenders lose their balance and the face plummets into the void, through the sky and clouds. Dimbleby’s voice-over takes on an increasingly worried, pitiful tone as the face– whose eyes are now missing – continues to fall in a crescendo of increasingly existential exclamations. The face falls into London and lands by the Thames. The presenter himself then retrieves his own face from the water and nonchalantly continues his narration of developments in the history of art across the 20th Century.
The show also features a new animatronic sculpture, an animation of the prosthetic face around which the entire video revolves.
This work is a model of broadcasting in a different form; the face’s eyes move and the sound of the interior servo motors responsible for this movement is amplified through a microphone and a series of effects pedals into a droning, psychedelic soundtrack which reverberates through the gallery. The face has become a form of self-generating instrument; it can play itself.

The exhibition has been made possible thanks to the support of the Mondriaan Foundation, Amsterdam, and of the Dutch Embassy in Rome.

Born in 1974 in Doncaster, England, Nathaniel Mellors has recently completed his residence at the Rijksakademie of Amsterdam. He lives & works in Amsterdam & London.
Solo Shows: 2009 Giantbum, Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam; Giantbum, Lombard-Freid Projects, New York; The Time Surgeon, South London Gallery, London.
Group Shows: 2010 British Art Show, Hayward Gallery &UK Touring; 2009: Recent Acquisitions, De Hallen, Haarlem, Holland; Giantbum, Altermodern, Tate Britain, London; Art&Research 2008, Centro Cultural Montehermoso, Vitoria-Gasteiz; The Time Surgeon, New Forest Pavilion, 53rd Venice Biennale; Contour 2009, 4th Biennial of Moving Image, Mechelen, Belgium, The Time Surgeon, South London Gallery (2009), Manifesto Marathon, Serpentine Gallery, London (2008), Art Now, Tate Britain, London (2008), Deep Screen, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2008), The Time Surgeon, Biennale de Lyon (2007) and Hateball, Alison Jacques Gallery, London (2006).

Until May 29th 2010

MONITOR
Palazzo Sforza Cesarini
via Sforza Cesarini 43a-44 00186 Roma
00390639378024

www.monitoronline.org

The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday, from 1 to 7pm
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