Virginia Ariu

The Brink

19 September27 October 2020

-

Opening: 18 September, 4-9pm

Almanac Inn presents The Brink, the first solo exhibition in Turin by Zurich-based Italian artist Virginia Ariu.
Through photography and collage, this new body of work explores the liminal spaces between private and public, individual and collective.
Modern still lives are alternated with views of public spaces, architectural elements and interiors. The images, often filtered through windows, mirrored on screens or blocked by gates or fences, reveal their ambiguity to the viewer’s gaze, which is reflected in the support of some of the prints.
The city and its architectures are seen from the point of their delimiting and structural functions and in relation to the human body, whose presence is just hinted or perceived by the movement of the frame. These familiar landscapes and accidental compositions reflect an interior dimension, made of intimate, suspended, and waiting images.
The act of looking, captured in the images, initiates and directs recurring but estranged narratives involving the viewer in the forms of individual and personal experiences, underlining topics of accessibility and proximity.
Protective equipment, interior details and silent urban views - configured as pictorial compositions - emphasise a subjective and affective dimension. The collages composed by packaging paper, voyeuristic photos and the fragments of dialogues, punctuate the impossibility of fully grasping an intimate and emotional space. As a visual journal with references to popular culture and childhood imageries, the works constellate the exhibition space, evoking a feeling of protection and isolation.

 
Almanac Inn presenta The Brink, la prima mostra personale a Torino di Virginia Ariu, artista italiana di base a Zurigo.
Un nuovo corpus di lavori esplora con fotografie e collage gli spazi liminali tra privato e pubblico, tra individuale e collettivo.
Moderne nature morte sono alternate a vedute di spazi pubblici, elementi architettonici ed interni. Le immagini, spesso filtrate da finestre, specchiate su schermi o bloccate da cancelli o recinzioni, rivelano la loro ambiguità allo sguardo dello spettatore che si riflette nel supporto di alcune delle stampe.
La città e le sue architetture sono viste nelle loro funzioni delimitanti e strutturali in relazione al corpo umano, la cui presenza è appena accennata o percepita solo dal movimento dell'inquadratura. Questi paesaggi familiari e composizioni quotidiane riflettono una dimensione interiore, fatta di immagini intime, sospese e di attesa.
L'atto del guardare catturato nelle immagini avvia e dirige narrazioni ricorrenti ma estraniate coinvolgendo lo spettatore nella forma di esperienze individuali e personali, sottolineando temi di accessibilità e prossimità.
Oggetti protettivi, dettagli di interni e silenziose vedute urbane - configurate come composizioni pittoriche - enfatizzano una dimensione soggettiva e affettiva. I collage composti da carta d’imballaggio, foto voyeuristiche e frammenti di dialoghi, scandiscono l'impossibilità di cogliere appieno uno spazio intimo ed emotivo. Configurato come un diario visivo con riferimenti alla cultura popolare e ad immagini d’infanzia, le opere costellano lo spazio espositivo, evocando una sensazione di protezione e isolamento.

 
Please bring your face mask and keep one meter distance.
 
 
ALMANAC INN is supported by Fondazione CRT and Compagnia di San Paolo.

 

Installation view

Installation view

From the left: The ride, 2019, cut-out snapshot printed on semi-glossy paper, 130x65 cm; Capsular POV triptych, 2020, UV inkjet print on mirror dibond (x3), 25x18,5 cm each; Clock with mirror, 2020, UV inkjet print on mirror dibond, 40x17 cm; Interno, 2020, print on transparent plexiglass white layer applied, 80x56 cm.

From the left: Clock with mirror, 2020, UV inkjet print on mirror dibond, 40x17cm. Interno, 2020, print on transparent plexiglass white layer applied, 80x56cm

Capsular POV triptych, 2020, UV inkjet print on mirror dibond (x3), 25x18,5cm each

Installation view

Félicia, 2019, UV inkjet print on white dibond, 71x56 cm

Seizure, 2020, wrapping paper for clothing items, printed book excerpt, found paparazzi snapshot, cut-out newspaper headline, 103x71cm

Mr Salmonella, 2020, wrapping paper for clothing items, printed book excerpt, found paparazzi snapshot, found comic-strip illustration, 103x71cm

Installation view

From the left: 53 and Lex, 2019, UV inkjet print on mirror dibond, 25x18 cm; Beam/passage, 2019, laser print on paper, 35x24 cm; Tale of end. Pumpkin tin, plastic sword, lens, window, 2020, inkjet print on paper, 56x35cm; Parking lot with cash dispenser, 2019, UV inkjet print on mirror dibond, 25x18 cm.

Tale of end. Pumpkin tin, plastic sword, lens, window, 2020, inkjet print on paper, 56x35cm

Installation view

Enge, 2019, print on transparent plexiglass, 71x56cm