Gabriele De Santis, The dance step of a watermelon while meeting a parrot for the first time

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Gabriele De Santis, The dance step of a watermelon while meeting a parrot for the first time, 2014, installation view, DEPART Foundation, 9105 Sunset Blvd Los Angeles

GABRIELE DE SANTIS
THE DANCE STEP OF A WATERMELON WHILE MEETING A PARROT FOR THE FIRST TIME
September 18–November 16, 2014
Opening Preview: Wednesday, September 17, 2014 from 6PM–9PM
Depart Foundation, 9105 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90069

Depart Foundation is delighted to inaugurate its new space 9105 Sunset Boulevard with an exhibition by Roman-born and based artist Gabriele De Santis, curated by Adam Carr.

Premised on a cross-cultural dialogue between Europe and the U.S. – a continuation of Depart Foundation’s activities in Rome – this exhibition follows the foundation’s objective of supporting and presenting the most exciting practices emerging globally.

De Santis’ exhibition features entirely new work and covers sculpture, painting, installation, video and photography. #newnewwork. Its title, The dance step of a watermelon while meeting a parrot for the first time, condenses perfectly his work’s seemingly desperate and unconnected subjects, which are tied together through an interest in, and the use of, language and (dis)placement. #shifting

While De Santis’ works in this exhibition suggest movement, they remain static and still. #flyingincement A number of works reference skate culture, using skateboarding motifs. Wheels adorn the backs of canvases or ‘update’ a museum standard, a plinth, making them appear fast and fluid rather than stationary and inert, as they have been over the course of art history. Movement, as well as the antiquity and language of art making, is also implied elsewhere. Six iPads display footage of Michael Jordan, slowed down to a time frame of 24hrs, referencing, in part, Douglas Gordon’s iconic work 24hr Psycho. #airjordanviaglasgow This work is flanked by newly designed wallpaper by the artist, which functions both as a display device and a work in its own right that reveals other content, much in the same way as the full sized skateboard ramp that occupies the center of the exhibition. Here, De Santis draws parallel with the idea of flight and the determination of the Roman Empire, and Michael Jordan’s own gravity defying achievements and efforts. The parrot, which runs throughout the exhibition as a reoccurring element including the wallpaper, alludes to Rome’s mysterious population of parrots and the myths that surround their growth in number and initial habitation in the city. #trueorfalse

History and the present, and performativity – or rather the idea of moving while standing still – is also compounded elsewhere. #movinginreverse His series of marble works capture the hashtagging of social media and its fluidity of use and pace, contrasted by the slow-changing nature of marble and its classicism as a material. #fastvsslow A new series of works in this exhibition seem to almost parody De Santis’ now well-known series of marble pieces. The new works are produced by using different colors of paint which are pressed up against the glass of a frame, giving them the appearance of marble but in fact come across as a cheap copy, an idea reinforced by the series’ use of Ikea frames, which limits the series to the dimensions with which they are mass produced by the company. #originalfake Doubling and mimicking also plays out in a photograph showing a man with a parrot. For those who know De Santis, you would be mistaken into thinking it is him in the picture. #lookalike

Perhaps the rest of this text should be left in his own words:

23, air, banana rail, cactus, collision, corinthian, doric, emoji, future, futuristic, garden, halfpipe, hashtag, iconic, ionic, joy, keyhole, LA life, led, love, marble, marco aurelio, neon, order, parrots in Rome, past, picnic, present, qigong, roller skate, roman imper, seeds, smiling face with sunglasses and hearts, trevi fountain, truth mouth, umbrella, verde alpi, wallpaper, watermelon, weed, wheels, xylotomous, youth, z like zorro

(Adam Carr)

GABRIELE DE SANTIS

Gabriele De Santis (b. 1983) has been included in group exhibitions in Europe, the U.S., UK, and Australia. Since 2012 solo exhibitions of work by the artist have been presented at Frutta, Rome; Galerie Diana Stitger Backspace, Amsterdam; CURA and Limoncello, London and Galerie Valentin, Paris. De Santis received the 2010 Moroso Award for Contemporary Art and in 2013 he curated AB, a book-turned-multi-artist exhibition at the Nomas Foundation, Rome. Upcoming solo exhibitions and projects in 2014 – 2015 will be presented at MOSTYN, Wales, Depart Foundation at 9105 Sunset Boulevard and ICI in Los Angeles, ICI in London (in collaboration with Artuner), Limoncello, London, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin.

ADAM CARR

Adam Carr (b. 1981) is curator and writer based in the UK. Since 2013 he has been curator of MOSTYN, Wales’ (UK) largest and most leading institution for contemporary visual arts. He has been a guest curator for Castello di Rivoli, Museum of Contemporary Art, Turin; ICA, London; and Kadist Art Foundation, Paris. He has also curated shows for t293, Naples; Yvon Lambert, Paris; Johann Konig, Berlin; Andreas Huber, Vienna; among numerous others. He is a regular writer for Mousse magazine and Cura. and has authored a number of texts for publications and catalogues worldwide.

DEPART Foundation

Depart Foundation is a 501 (c) 3 public charity predicated on the discussion, exhibition and production of art and is dedicated to the development and support of contemporary emerging artists whose work and careers are departing from their previous endeavors or predecessors.

Since its founding in 2008, Depart Foundation has served as a catalyst for the Italian art and cultural community, strengthening the dialogue between Italy and the international art world. Like multiple outposts in Europe and U.S., Depart Foundation has actively encouraged artistic production through sponsorship of young and established artists and the provision of spaces and resources conducive to the research, production and exhibition of new work and to the presentation of educational and public programs.

Some of the most interesting and dynamic artists of our time, from around the world, have been presented for the first time in Rome by Depart Foundation. They include Cory Arcangel, Joe Bradley, Nate Lowman, Ryan McGinley, Tauba Auerbach, Darren Bader, Louis Eisner, Roe Ethridge, Sam Falls, Mark Flood, Elias Hansen, Brendan Lynch, Oscar Murillo, Sarah Braman, Seth Price, Jon Rafman, Stephen G. Rhodes, Amanda Ross-Ho, Sterling Ruby, Lucien Smith, Valerie Snobeck, Frances Stark, Oscar Tuazon, Cao Fei, Mario Garcia Torres and many others.

The Depart Foundation has supported the Italian art community, presented local artists in cities as far as New York and Los Angeles and collaborated with important art institutions in Italy and beyond including, among others, the Macro and MAXXI museums in Rome, the American Academy in Rome, the Serpentine Gallery in London and the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.

Gabriele De Santis, The dance step of a watermelon while meeting a parrot for the first time, 2014, installation view, DEPART Foundation, 9105 Sunset Blvd Los Angeles