Press Release: Giuseppe Gabellone

New Works: 02.3
11.08.02

New Works: 02.3
November 8, 2002 – January 12, 2003

Giuseppe Gabellone Milan, Italy
Juan Miguel Ramos San Antonio, TX
Aļda Ruilova New York, New York

Selected by Francesco Bonami

About the Artist
Born in Brindisi, Italy, Giuseppe Gabellone's first US exhibition was organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL. Traditionally schooled in Italy, Gabellone has exhibited widely in both Europe and the United States.

Individual exhibitions include such venues as Greengrassi, London, Enlgand; Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo per l'Arte, Guarene d'Alba, Italy; Studio Guenzani, Milan, Italy; and Frac Limousin, Limoges, France. Gabellone's work has also been featured in the 1997 Venice Biennale, Italy; 1998 Sydney Biennial, Australia; and Documenta 11, Kassel, Germany.

Giuseppe Gabellone was selected for the 02.3 residency by Francesco Bonami. Francesco Bonami is the Manilow Senior Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, and Director of Visual Arts for the 50th Biennale di Venezia, 2003.

About the Project
Giuseppe Gabellone upends the notions of authenticity and rationality in his process-intensive sculptures. His unlikely objects, in this case, two rigid urethane foam woodblock prints, are presented without an explicit context, yet they allude to art history, architecture, and nature.

Curator Francesco Bonami describes Gabellone's work as "baroque, constantly subverting the discipline of the style from within." This surprising twist on our expectations compels viewers to rethink their initial impressions, because the pieces themselves often seem to reference the ways in which we process our understanding of the work. Gabellone suggests that an outer surface illuminates an inner nature.

Growing up in the town of Brindisi, the artist began crafting his sculptural pieces, structures, and finely crafted boxes, which are both earth-derived and biomorphic, from clay, wood, and metal. Elegant and visceral, the works often invite the viewer's touch.

For his residency exhibition, the artist recreated two 18th century Japanese woodblock prints. Utilizing modern materials, including urethane foam and silicone rubber, Gabellone has transformed the flat image into three-dimensional form. Skilled in the technical aspects of mold making, Gabellone deftly manipulates these materials, thoroughly engaged in the transformative process. Like many early Italian masters, he follows a long tradition of simulation—of recreation—using different materials over and over again. His abstraction or perversion of the original, results in work with a harder edge that is more open to interpretation. Gabellone gives equal attention to the material as to the process and to the image.

Exhibition Dates
November 8, 2002 — January 12, 2003

Opening Reception
Friday, November 8, 6:30-8:30 PM

Artists' Dialogue
Saturday, November 9, 6:30-8:00 PM
Featuring Giuseppe Gabellone, Juan Miguel Ramos, and Aļda Ruilova. Moderated by Francesco Bonami, Manilow Senior Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, and Director of Visual Arts, 50th Biennale di Venezia, 2003.

Brown Bag Lunch
Wednesday, January 8, 2003, 12:00-1:00 PM
Join us for a tour of New Works: 02.3 and a brown bag lunch provided by Pecan Street Deli. Please call ArtPace to make reservations.

Event Locations
All events held at ArtPace, 445 N. Main Avenue. Free parking at Flores Street and Savings. ArtPace is open to the public Wednesday thru Sunday, 12-5 PM, Thursday until 8 PM and by appointment. There is no charge for admission.

445 North Main Avenue San Antonio TX 78205 t 210 212 4900 f 210 212 4990 www.artpace.org