Monti 8 is glad to announce “Out of the Folds”, a duo show which will feature the works of Pacifico Silano and Sarah Palmer, organized in collaboration with Mrs. (NY) The exhibition opens the first season of the gallery, founded in March 2020 and focused on young generations of the international art scene. The title refers to the poem “Unfolded out of the folds”, written by Walt Whitman in 1856 and included in the famous masterpiece “Leaves of Grass”. Both Silano and Palmer work through the manipulation of prexisting images coming from different sources. Anyway these images are only the starting point of a process of searching, cutting and assembling in a kind of collage, which
offers the viewer new points of view and narratives. Sarah Palmer finds her material from magazines, catalogs, rape – prevention manuals and other images where she’s attracted especially by female body. Often nude, her women are included in a new context, created overlapping several layers which build a final unique image. The result is a picture full of references, symbolism and a strong sense of theatricality, not easy to interpret at a first glance. She merges objects and figures who have nothing in common, making them dialogue on the same surface in a sort of harmonic chaos. For example, in the work That Which is and That Which Was elements from different times and places coexist: the curtains which recall theatrical scenes and the naked figure below who seems to be spied through the keyhole. In this work, as in all of Sarah Palmer’s art, one of the most intriguing aspect is this ambiguity between what is hidden and what is revealed in the picture, which looks always open to question. On the opposite, the subjects of Pacifico Silano’s works are always men. The body is still the main element which links all of his practice, but it’s never completely disclosed. He rather “depict” figures who leave a lot to the imagination: by representing only details of bodies, we can only imagine what it has been cut or covered by the artist, who underlines the aspect of intimacy without being too explicit. As Palmer does, also Silano draws from magazines to find the images that he selects, cuts e re-photographs assembling them with others, giving them a new meaning. He explores themes related to the LGBT community such as identity, masculinity, as well as loss and absence, which result in his artworks in a sense of loneliness, but also calm and peace, especially thanks to the choice of quiet colours. Sarah Palmer and Pacifico Silano investigate the possibilities offered by the diffusion of images and their re-use. The exhibition is a chance for the viewers to discover the connections between these two artists, but also to reflect on how the same image can tell so many stories, depending on who is telling them.
In her works, the artist creates a sort of new museum collections, merging everyday stuff with furniture or artistic items such as sculptures, ancient vases and other old objects, wich recall some antique shops.
The show will run from March 27th through May 20th.
