ALMANAC

Holly White

Being Together

13 September—13 October 2018

Opening: 12 September, 7pm
first floor

Almanac Inn presents Being Together, a solo exhibition by British artist Holly White, developed during her residency in Turin.
The installation is informed by memories, personal stories and feelings experienced and collected by the artist during the days spent in the city. Using a cumulative and almost diaristic form, a fragmented narrative emerges from the elements in the space. The works explore the relation between individual and collective space. A series of maquettes made out of fruit boxes are inhabited by salt dough creatures. Archetypal representations of houses, living places or refuges: self-contained worlds. Shelters for being together, protecting from the rain and at the same time celebrating the mythological power of water. The fruit boxes become fountains, houses for water. Similarly to the maquettes, they’re decorated by drawings, collages and photos taken walking around the city or documenting different phases of the work in process in the gallery. The recurrent shape of a dome, referencing Mario Merz’s igloos, recalls both a tent protecting us or a sky shared with the rest of the world. Similarly, the gallery and the small residency’s room are translated into a shelter, an inhabited place of encounter, where sharing personal and collective experiences.

Installation view

A fountain for the heatwave, 2018, boxes from Turin markets, plastic, photos taken by the artist in Turin, including photos of works by Mario Merz and a fountain by an unknown artist, salt dough, three aquarium water pumps, water, pink and rainbow string, found plastic bottles.

A fountain for the heatwave, 2018. (Detail)

Installation view

Rain, 2018, salt dough, plastic diamonds, food packaging, found box, paint, rainbow string, photo taken by the artist of a park in Turin, nails.

Installation view

Flags for rain, 2018, fabric from Turin markets, broom handles, found wood, earring hooks, brooch pins, used disposable oven tins, water, salt dough, nails. (Detail)

Installation view

An animal and a house, 2018, salt dough, plastic diamonds, food packaging, found box, rainbow string, photo taken by the artist of an igloo by Mario Merz, paint, plastic, nails.

An awning that became a squid, 2018, found plastic, blue plastic raindrops, salt dough, photo by the artist of the exhibition being constructed, photo by the artist of a fountain, pink string, nail.

A clock with a tent on top, 2018, salt dough, plastic diamonds, food packaging, pink and rainbow string, found boxes, plastic, paint, photo taken by the artist of the gallery during install, nail.

An animal and a city, 2018, found box, fruit packaging, reused plastic, paint, plastic diamonds, salt dough, photo by the artist of the view of Turin out of a window.

A rain shelter, 2018, found box, photos taken by the artist of the gallery during install, paint, plastic diamonds, nails.

Two ponds, side by side, 2018, found box, paint, plastic, water, pink and rainbow string; A cushion, 2018, borrowed cushion, fabric.