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lies
STEFANO CAGOL
04.02 - 12.03.2005
Essay by Mami Kataoka
Private View: Friday, February 04, 2005 6.00 – 9.00 pm
(versione italiana sotto)
Platform is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Stefano Cagol.
In the video installation Lies there is only one element, the Stars & Stripes against a background of sky. In this work Cagol uses the image of an American flag. He removes it from its context, replicates and mirrors it. He crops the image so it appears detached from its usual support structure the flagpole. Now it seems somehow unpredictable, capable of autonomous movement. This newfound ‘freedom’ and Cagol’s use of slow motion combine to create an anthropomorphic object. The flag stirred by the wind becomes something menacing or seductive. It takes on the aspect of a butterfly a heart, or coat of arms.
The video is is 25 minutes long. It is composed of fragments whose length varies between ten seconds and five minutes. There is no narrative just a constant unfolding. Each fragment is different in the colour of the sky, the distance of the flag and the rhythm of its movement. The end is sudden, the image fills the screen.
For Cagol the extreme, continuous and complex movement of the flag reflects the unsafe turbulent time we live in. It articulates the shifting values of our times.
“The mutability of a flag - in this case the American one - moved by the wind makes me think about the insecurity of ideals, of promises, of truths that turn to Lies and of how bitterly people fight, and die in the name of one flag and in particular about the USA which tries by any means to convince the world that its projects of war are only for truth and peace…”Stefano Cagol
This exhibition is the first step in a public art project that will happen in a number of cities in collaboration with spaces in Tokyo and New York, and the Civic Gallery of Contemporary Art in Trento where the first version of the video was shown in the group show New Italian Space.
Mami Kataoka is currently senior curator at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo. From 1997-2002 she was chief curator at Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery. In 2001 she co-curated "My Home is Yours / Your Home is Mine" with Hou Hanru and Jerome Sans. In 2002 she worked with the Barbican Art Gallery in London to produce “JAM: Tokyo-London” which included the work of over forty artists, fashion and graphic designers, photographers, musicians, and performers. In the same year Ms. Kataoka was one of nine curators to develop the exhibition "Under Construction: New Dimensions of Asian Art". She was also the selector, with Hou Hanru, of the Asian galleries that participated in the 2004 ARCO held in Madrid. More recently she has worked on projects with artists: Rirkrit Tiravanija, Santiago Cucullu, Ozawa Tsuyoshi and Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba.
Stefano Cagol. SHORT BIOGRAPHY:
1969, Born in Trento, Italy. Lives in Italy, often works in New York.
EDUCATION: 1997-98, PHD, Government of Canada Grant Award Holder, Postdoctoral Fellowship, Ryerson University, Toronto; 1993, MFA, Academy of Fine Arts “Brera”, Milan; 1989, BFA, Art Institute, Trento, ItalyRESIDENCIES AND AWARDS: 2002, Artist in Residence, Leube Group’s Art Program, Salzburg, Austria; 2001, Fellowship, ICP - International Center of Photography, New York, USA; 1998, Grant Award, Internationale Sommerakademie für Bildende Kunst, Salzburg, Austria; 1995-96, Residency Award, Künstlerhaus, Salzburg, Austria
LECTURES: 2004: MiArt-International Art Fair, Milan; TSM-Trento School of Menagement, Art and Culture, MART-Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rovereto, Italy; 1999: Academy of Fine Arts "Brera", Milan; 1998: University of Toronto, Canada, McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology; 1994: Civic Gallery of Contemporary Art, Trento, Italy
SOLO PROJECTS: 2004: Tokyospace, Superdeluxe, Tokyo; The Wedding Project, Civic Gallery of Contemporary Art, Trento, Italy; 2003: Diary Project 03, Miami; Dress the Risk, Miss Italy, S. Benedetto del Tronto, Italy; The Silver Squadron, Galerie im Traklhaus, Salzburg; 2002: Diary project 02, Miami and New York; 2001: Diary Project 01, New York
SELECTED SOLO SHOWS: 2004: Project Room: video windows, Stux Gallery, New York; 2003: Palazzo Frisacco, Tolmezzo, Udine; Antonioli, Milan; 2000: MART-Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Palazzo delle Albere, Trento, Italy; Galleria Estro, Padova, Italy; Fondazione Furlan, Pordenone, Italy; 1999: Studio d’Arte Raffaelli, Trento, Italy; 1998: Ryerson Gallery, Toronto; 1996: Galerie der Berchtold Villa, Salzburg; Arka Galerija, Vilnius
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS: 2004: Moving Pictures. A Video Installation Survey, Artcore Gallery, Toronto, Stop & Store, Luxe Gallery, New York; Quadriennale Anteprima, La Promotrice delle Belle Arti, Turin; Enter. Casoli Art Prize, Barbara Behan Gallery, London; 2003: Places of Affection. Luoghi d’Affezione, IKOB-Internationales Kunstzentrum Ostbelgien, Eupen, Belgium; In Faccia al Mondo, Villa Croce- Museum of Contemporary Art, Genoa; 2002: New Italian Space - Nuovo Spazio Italiano, MART-Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art & Civic Gallery of Contemporary Art, Trento, Italy; First International Festival of Photography. Viasatellite, Mercati Traianei, Rome; First Detroit Video Festival, Museum of New Art, Detroit; 2001: Public Art Project: Künstler Brücken. Ponti d’artista. Artists Bridges, Bolzano; Panorama II, Tiroler Kunstpavillion, Innsbruck, Austria; S.A.A. Strategies Against Architecture, Galleria Gian Carla Zanutti, Milan; 2000: Dintorni/Umgebung, Galerie Im Traklhaus, Salzburg; 1999: Whichkraft?, Trans Hudson Gallery, New York City; Video.it, GAM-Gallery of Modern Art, Turin; 1999, Atlante. Geography of Young Art in Italy, MACS-Museum of Contemporary Art, Masedu, Sassari; Super Mega Drops, Viafarini, Milan; 1998: Laboratorio, Galleria Civica di Arte Contemporanea, Trento; 1997, Generazione Media, Palazzo della Triennale, Milan; 1996, Video Forum. 2nd edition, Basel Art Fair, Basel
UPCOMING SHOWS AND PROJECTS: 2005: The Babylon Zoo, solo show, Galleria Oredaria, Rome, The Passion for Learning and Knowing. 6th International Conference, solo project, Faculty of Sociology, University of Trento, Italy
ARTIST’S WEB SITE: http://www.stefanocagol.com
PLATFORMSheila Lawson
3 Wilkes Street , London EI 6QF
telephone/Fax: 44(0)20 7375 2973
email: platform@dircon.co.uk http//www.platformprojects.org.uk
Open Thursday to Sunday 12.00-6.00 pm
Stefano Cagol, “LIES”, 2004, DVD, Wall Projection, Platform Gallery, London.
Produced as Video Frame, lambda print, plexiglas, dibond, 100x130 cm. Edition of 3
Comunicato stampa
lies
STEFANO CAGOL
04.02 - 12.03.2005
Testo critico di Mami Kataoka
OPENING. Friday, February 04. 2005
6.00 – 9.00 pm
Platform è lieta di presentare la personale dell’artista basato in Italia Stefano Cagol. LIES è un progetto sul difficile momento che stiamo vivendo, sulla difficile realtà internazionale.
E’ una video proiezione di dimensioni elevate, una wall-proiection dove un unico elemento è protagonista sullo sfondo del cielo, un unico elemento con molti significati diversi, in continua evoluzione. Nel suo video Stefano Cagol elabora il simbolo della bandiera a stelle e strisce Americana: la toglie dal contesto e la duplica. In questo modo la bandiera mossa dal vento diventa qualcosa di minaccioso o l’esatto opposto (vedi immagine “lies cagol.jpg”), prende la forma di una farfalla, poi di un cuore e subito dopo di uno stemma militare. Così il suo messaggio è continuamente alterato. L’estrema, continua e complessa mutevolezza dell’immagine simboleggia l’insicura situazione che stiamo vivendo, mette in evidenza l’incerto cambiamento dei valori nella nostra difficile realtà, contraddizioni sottolineate proprio dal titolo LIES.
Il video della durata di 25 minuti è presentato in un loop continuo. E’ composto da una serie di frammenti, di varia lunghezza dai 10 secondi ai cinque minuti. Tra una parte e l’altra ci sono cinque secondi di nero, ma la sequenza non ha uno sviluppo narrativo. I frammenti infatti sono differenti, è differente lo sfondo del cielo, la distanza della bandiera, la luce (vedi immagine “lies cagol2.jpg”), il ritmo. Vicino alla fine del video ci sono poi due frammenti con un cielo grigio come sfondo (vedi immagine “lies cagol3.jpg”). La fine invece è subitanea…in trenta secondi evolve attraverso uno zoom sulla bandiera e allo stesso tempo sfocando l’immagine che invade l’intero schermo. Il suono è creato dal suono originale delle strade newyorchesi, ma `e rallentato e modificato da un outer space reverber.
« La continua mutabilità estetica della bandiera – in questo caso quella Americana – mossa dal vento mi fa pensare alla variabilità, all’insicurezza degli ideali, delle promesse, della verità che tutti sembrano errori, che tutti sembrano LIES, bugie. Mi fa pensare quanto duramente un uomo può combattere e morire nel semplice nome di una bandiera. In questo momento, penso in particolare agli States: loro provano in ogni modo a convincere il mondo che i loro progetti di guerra sono solo per la verità e la pace… » Stefano Cagol
Questa mostra è la prima tappa di un progetto d’arte pubblica riguardo al simbolo della bandiera che toccherà alter città con la collaborazione di spazi museali internazionali a Tokyo e New York, e presso la Galleria Civica di Arte Contemporanea di Trento dove la prima versione del video è stata mostrata per la mostra Nuovo Spazio Italiano.
Mami Kataoka è attualmente senior curator alMori Art Museum di Tokyo, e dal 1997 al 2002 è stata chief curator alla Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery.
Nel 2001 ha co-curato "My Home is Yours / Your Home is Mine" con Hou Hanru e Jerome Sans. Nel 2002 ha lavorato alla Barbican Art Gallery di Londra London per realizzare “JAM: Tokyo-London”che include il lavoro di oltre cinquanta artisti, designers di moda, grafici, fotografi, musicisti e performer. Nello stesso anno è stata uno dei nove curatori che hanno sviluppato la mostra "Under Construction: New Dimensions of Asian Art". Ha inoltre selezionato, insieme ad Hou Hanru, le gallerie asiatiche partecipanti ad ARCO a Madrid nel 2004 e nel 2005.
Recentemente ha lavorato a progetti con artisti come Rirkrit Tiravanija, Santiago Cucullu, Ozawa Tsuyoshi e Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba.
Stefano Cagol. BREVE BIOGRAFIA:
1969, nato a Trento, Italy. Vive in Italia, spesso opera a New York.
EDUCAZIONE: 1997-98, PHD, Government of Canada Grant Award Holder, Postdoctoral Fellowship, Ryerson University, Toronto; 1993, MFA, Academy of Fine Arts “Brera”, Milan; 1989, BFA, Art Institute, Trento, ItalyRESIDENZE E PREMI: 2002, Artist in Residence, Leube Group’s Art Program, Salzburg, Austria; 2001, Fellowship, ICP - International Center of Photography, New York, USA; 1998, Grant Award, Internationale Sommerakademie für Bildende Kunst, Salzburg, Austria; 1995-96, Residency Award, Künstlerhaus, Salzburg, Austria
LETTURE: 2004: MiArt-International Art Fair, Milan; TSM-Trento School of Menagement, Art and Culture, MART-Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rovereto, Italy; 1999: Academy of Fine Arts "Brera", Milan; 1998: University of Toronto, Canada, McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology; 1994: Civic Gallery of Contemporary Art, Trento, Italy
PROGETTI PERSONALI: 2004: Tokyospace, Superdeluxe, Tokyo; The Wedding Project, Civic Gallery of Contemporary Art, Trento, Italy; 2003: Diary Project 03, Miami; Dress the Risk, Miss Italy, S. Benedetto del Tronto, Italy; The Silver Squadron, Galerie im Traklhaus, Salzburg; 2002: Diary project 02, Miami and New York; 2001: Diary Project 01, New York
SELEZIONE MOSTRE PERSONALI: 2004: Project Room: video windows, Stux Gallery, New York; 2003: Palazzo Frisacco, Tolmezzo, Udine; Antonioli, Milan; 2000: MART-Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Palazzo delle Albere, Trento, Italy; Galleria Estro, Padova, Italy; Fondazione Furlan, Pordenone, Italy; 1999: Studio d’Arte Raffaelli, Trento, Italy; 1998: Ryerson Gallery, Toronto; 1996: Galerie der Berchtold Villa, Salzburg; Arka Galerija, Vilnius
SELEZIONE MOSTRE COLLETTIVE: 2004: Moving Pictures. A Video Installation Survey, Artcore Gallery, Toronto, Stop & Store, Luxe Gallery, New York; Quadriennale Anteprima, La Promotrice delle Belle Arti, Turin; Enter. Casoli Art Prize, Barbara Behan Gallery, London; 2003: Places of Affection. Luoghi d’Affezione, IKOB-Internationales Kunstzentrum Ostbelgien, Eupen, Belgium; In Faccia al Mondo, Villa Croce- Museum of Contemporary Art, Genoa; 2002: New Italian Space - Nuovo Spazio Italiano, MART-Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art & Civic Gallery of Contemporary Art, Trento, Italy; First International Festival of Photography. Viasatellite, Mercati Traianei, Rome; First Detroit Video Festival, Museum of New Art, Detroit; 2001: Public Art Project: Künstler Brücken. Ponti d’artista. Artists Bridges, Bolzano; Panorama II, Tiroler Kunstpavillion, Innsbruck, Austria; S.A.A. Strategies Against Architecture, Galleria Gian Carla Zanutti, Milan; 2000: Dintorni/Umgebung, Galerie Im Traklhaus, Salzburg; 1999: Whichkraft?, Trans Hudson Gallery, New York City; Video.it, GAM-Gallery of Modern Art, Turin; 1999, Atlante. Geography of Young Art in Italy, MACS-Museum of Contemporary Art, Masedu, Sassari; Super Mega Drops, Viafarini, Milan; 1998: Laboratorio, Galleria Civica di Arte Contemporanea, Trento; 1997, Generazione Media, Palazzo della Triennale, Milan; 1996, Video Forum. 2nd edition, Basel Art Fair, Basel
FUTURE MOSTRE E PROGETTI: 2005: The Babylon Zoo, solo show, Galleria Oredaria, Rome, The Passion for Learning and Knowing. 6th International Conference, solo project, Faculty of Sociology, University of Trento, Italy
SITO WEB DELL’ARTISTA: http://www.stefanocagol.com
PLATFORMSheila Lawson
3 Wilkes Street , London EI 6QF
telephone/Fax: 44(0)20 7375 2973
email: platform@dircon.co.uk http//www.platformprojects.org.uk
Open Thursday to Sunday 12.00-6.00 pm
Stefano Cagol, “LIES”, 2004, DVD, Wall Projection, Platform Gallery, London.
Produced as Video Frame, lambda print, plexiglas, dibond, 100x130 cm. Edition of 3
For further information please call Sheila Lawson on 020 7375 2973.