Cléo Totti / Ultra Liquide
December 16, 2018 – 27 January 2019
TATJANA PIETERS
Nieuwevaart 124/001
B-9000 Ghent
Images courtesy of the artist & Tatjana Pieters Gallery and Rachel Grunters.
The
versatile practice of Cléo Totti is based on a rework of modernist conventions
through a surprising choice of materials and an ingenious use of technology.
She has an insatiable interest in various media such as wax, plastic, pigments,
plaster and organic elements, and investigates the space in between.
versatile practice of Cléo Totti is based on a rework of modernist conventions
through a surprising choice of materials and an ingenious use of technology.
She has an insatiable interest in various media such as wax, plastic, pigments,
plaster and organic elements, and investigates the space in between.
One
of the recurring themes in her work is the fascination with the human body, and
more specifically her fragmentation, distance or transfiguration in another
object. Totti researches the human body as part of a larger ecosystem, in which
the natural and the artificial come together in an often dangerous but also
fascinating combination. The bodies in Totti’s work are often androgynous, and
the properties of the media used vary between liquid and solid states, thereby
underlining the idea of fluidity in gender and sexuality. Especially her series
of bas-reliefs represent this transition in media, especially from painting to
sculpture.
of the recurring themes in her work is the fascination with the human body, and
more specifically her fragmentation, distance or transfiguration in another
object. Totti researches the human body as part of a larger ecosystem, in which
the natural and the artificial come together in an often dangerous but also
fascinating combination. The bodies in Totti’s work are often androgynous, and
the properties of the media used vary between liquid and solid states, thereby
underlining the idea of fluidity in gender and sexuality. Especially her series
of bas-reliefs represent this transition in media, especially from painting to
sculpture.
She
also plays in the title of this exhibition. ‘Ultra Liquide’ refers to the
status and materiality of painting. Fluidity is one of the logical aspects of
painting, but in its ‘artificial or chemical’ pain- tings any form is absent.
Because of this lack of natural fluidity inherent in classical painting, the
paintings acquire an artistic character. In a social context in which
everything tends more and more towards the digital, and within which bodies
function as framed objects, the solid liquid and the liquid bar becomes fixed.
The paintings start from real fragments that become a kind of abstract virtual
landscapes. Composed of decolored pieces of fabric, traditionally stretched on
a muscle frame, she is inspired by constructivist and abstract influences
without embarrassment and with some irony.
also plays in the title of this exhibition. ‘Ultra Liquide’ refers to the
status and materiality of painting. Fluidity is one of the logical aspects of
painting, but in its ‘artificial or chemical’ pain- tings any form is absent.
Because of this lack of natural fluidity inherent in classical painting, the
paintings acquire an artistic character. In a social context in which
everything tends more and more towards the digital, and within which bodies
function as framed objects, the solid liquid and the liquid bar becomes fixed.
The paintings start from real fragments that become a kind of abstract virtual
landscapes. Composed of decolored pieces of fabric, traditionally stretched on
a muscle frame, she is inspired by constructivist and abstract influences
without embarrassment and with some irony.
Cléo
Totti (BE, 1989) lives and works in Liège and studied at ERG, Brussels. She is
the laureate of various prizes, including the Price of the Friends of SMAK, for
her participation in ‘Coming People’, SMAK Ghent in 2016 and the Prix de la
Création, Boverie, Liege, 2017. She had solo exhibitions in :. BPS 22,
Charleroi, 2018, Galerie Centrale, Liège, 2017, Clovis XV, Brussels, 2017. She
participated in the following group exhibitions: ‘Elite P18’, Krieg, Hasselt,
Belgium ‘People Meet People’ curated by Michel Leonardi, ACDGY, Beijing, China,
‘Resistance’, Group Show curated by Matié De vissault and Karine Fol, Central
Of Contemporary Art, Brussels, ‘En Piste’, Space Collection and Gallery
Central, Museum of Bovery, Liège, Belgium, ‘Friends Van STOCK’ , STOCK, KASK
Conservatory, Ghent, Belgium ‘Itinera: Project Room, Mostra del Per- corso
triennale delle residenze artistiche in 4 contrade’, Palazzo Patrizi, Sienne,
Italy, ‘Bonnes resolutions’, Cdlt + Gallery, Liège, Belgium,’ STOCK # 9 :
Them-in, Them It ‘, duo show with Iris Ditutter, STOCK, KASK Conservatory,
Ghent, Belgium,’ Les Vaincus ‘curated by Genaro Marcos, Space, Liège, Belgium,’
Form Cannibalism, The Body In The New Medias curated by Joachim Coucke, The
Stable, Waregem, Belgium, Run-Run, in collaboration with Clovis XV, Villa
Arson, Nice, France, «La vie Intense», Show curated by Emeline Depas and
Claudia Radulescu, 54 Rue d’Artois Brussels, Belgium, «Extend & Pretend»,
Komplot, Athens, Greece, «Catherine Vertige’s Collection», show curated by
Komplot, Société, Brussels, «Highway Raven», Diesel Project Space,
show curated by Xavier Mary, Seraing, Belgium, «A Walk Of A Plant Into A
Greenhouse»: Rooftop performance, Mort et Vif, Brussels, «ICE-B and Claudes
presents: Ultra Violettes», project co-curated with Aude Anquetil, Master
Sculpture / Studio, ERG, Brussels, «La vie», Master Sculpture / Studio, ERG,
Brussels
Totti (BE, 1989) lives and works in Liège and studied at ERG, Brussels. She is
the laureate of various prizes, including the Price of the Friends of SMAK, for
her participation in ‘Coming People’, SMAK Ghent in 2016 and the Prix de la
Création, Boverie, Liege, 2017. She had solo exhibitions in :. BPS 22,
Charleroi, 2018, Galerie Centrale, Liège, 2017, Clovis XV, Brussels, 2017. She
participated in the following group exhibitions: ‘Elite P18’, Krieg, Hasselt,
Belgium ‘People Meet People’ curated by Michel Leonardi, ACDGY, Beijing, China,
‘Resistance’, Group Show curated by Matié De vissault and Karine Fol, Central
Of Contemporary Art, Brussels, ‘En Piste’, Space Collection and Gallery
Central, Museum of Bovery, Liège, Belgium, ‘Friends Van STOCK’ , STOCK, KASK
Conservatory, Ghent, Belgium ‘Itinera: Project Room, Mostra del Per- corso
triennale delle residenze artistiche in 4 contrade’, Palazzo Patrizi, Sienne,
Italy, ‘Bonnes resolutions’, Cdlt + Gallery, Liège, Belgium,’ STOCK # 9 :
Them-in, Them It ‘, duo show with Iris Ditutter, STOCK, KASK Conservatory,
Ghent, Belgium,’ Les Vaincus ‘curated by Genaro Marcos, Space, Liège, Belgium,’
Form Cannibalism, The Body In The New Medias curated by Joachim Coucke, The
Stable, Waregem, Belgium, Run-Run, in collaboration with Clovis XV, Villa
Arson, Nice, France, «La vie Intense», Show curated by Emeline Depas and
Claudia Radulescu, 54 Rue d’Artois Brussels, Belgium, «Extend & Pretend»,
Komplot, Athens, Greece, «Catherine Vertige’s Collection», show curated by
Komplot, Société, Brussels, «Highway Raven», Diesel Project Space,
show curated by Xavier Mary, Seraing, Belgium, «A Walk Of A Plant Into A
Greenhouse»: Rooftop performance, Mort et Vif, Brussels, «ICE-B and Claudes
presents: Ultra Violettes», project co-curated with Aude Anquetil, Master
Sculpture / Studio, ERG, Brussels, «La vie», Master Sculpture / Studio, ERG,
Brussels