Costello. It is not considered Michael Gabriel (Milan, Italy) or sculptor and painter, although he does both, his work – as he explains – is closer to that of a “film director”. He is passionate about creating scenes where fantasy and science fiction meet reality. Some stories turn viewers into viewers.
In I see you say this over and over again, and I warn you in a pleasant way, In an exhibition on view from this Saturday at the Espai d’Art Contemporani de Castelló (EACC), the artist has designed an underwater fable in which the viewer engages as he passes by. It is the conclusions drawn from the work that ultimately complete it.
At a certain point in the exhibition, the visitor will encounter a new hand with casting. Although a mythical and marine figure, it is easy to get to know and relate to a human. It is at this normalization of the imaginary and the imaginary that the creator stops. “Plaster is one of the most classic materials used in art, but in this case it represents a truly recognizable story. Although the merman is not real, his arm is broken, you can understand that he needs to swim somewhere, but he can’t.”
Science fiction enables the artist to create new stories, but also serves as a channel to better interpret the present. “Science fiction, like the cinematic aesthetic, allows everyone to speak in a way that you can understand because it’s born out of a common experience. We were all moviegoers,” says Gabriel, adding: “For me I’m talking about personal experiences like the death of a friend, and that’s why a The room is filled with elements that can explain half of the story, what’s going on, and engages him.
It was this relationship between fiction and reality that most interested EACC’s director, Carlos Angel Chauri, About his work. An approach that connects to contemporary visual culture and a body of work being created in space around video games, as happens in videojoke clubs or science fiction. A hard chronicle. In another part of the room you’ll find two enormous paintings, for which the Italian says he’s taken on the “role” of a painter, part of a game. “When I drew them I tried to imagine what gesture a painter makes when creating his work. I treated it as a memory rather than an object,” he explains.
Michael Gabriel belongs to a generation of artists who started creating after the Internet boom and that really marked his creative process. “The difference between my generation and the ‘post-Internet’ artist is that the latter always talk about it. The Internet was so interesting, the pieces they created were inspired by it, it was their subject. In our case it was different because that relationship was completely internalized. The Internet made us about things. It gave a different perspective, but it wasn’t felt overtly in the work. You can feel somewhere digital, because when I look at the world I see images in PNG”.
However, the important thing to know is Gabriel’s work was created expressly for the EACC, his first solo exhibition in the Spanish state. In this sense, space also becomes an important ‘actor’. To that extent, the interpretation of fragments varies depending on the location and altitude at which they are found.
“There is an interesting thing about Michael, which is that many of his references come from the visual culture of contemporary art or the Internet, but as an artist he must position himself in the space, understand it and enter into the conversation. Many gestures respond to him, because the space is an object of the exhibition. In fact, apart from the formal references , the existing spaces are also related to the exhibition. And, although many stories are told, it is always necessary for a visitor to go through the room to create relationships, and to become sensitive to seeing,” explains Sauri.
For his part, the artist decides that his works should be understood as “minimalist” because he understands that emptiness is part of history. “Going to an exhibition is the closest thing to directing a movie, because the path you take to the end is all an important part of the experience. In my opinion, works of art are not in the objects, they are. The distance that separates them from your eyes. That invisible distance. That’s where you find art. Meaning. It’s like a simulation where you have to do real work. So, if you want to make an important suggestion, you want a super empty room.”
In the case I see you say this over and over again, and I warn you in a pleasant way It has been decided to deliberately leave many places without work.
