Into The Wild Meaning, a solo exhibition by Buenos Aires-based artist Diego Bianchi, is a platform for the inspection of objects and their ability to serve as parts of a whole. Each object is given a new purpose by the artist through his roles as builder and performer.
The Arcade will serve as Bianchi’s lab for Into The Wild Meaning, where he will make rudimentary sculptures from collected objects, appliances in a state of disuse, and parts of other things. The viewer is invited to explore this construction site, where gathered groups of objects become hybrid forms, somewhat anthropomorphic, but still clinging to their material origins. The tenderness with which Bianchi accumulates and fastens together these objects is at odds with the often repulsive and haunting forms that he tends to favor and construct. This juxtaposition prompts the viewer to question their position to the objecthood of his work and their surroundings, both inside the gallery and ultimately beyond.
In any work labeled ‘sculptural,’ the viewer’s body, by default, becomes a component of the experience and understanding of the work. In past installations, Bianchi makes this object-viewer relationship more visceral by activating the work with his own body. Like an array of stage props, he calls the sculptures to action through their potential to shift in space and time. This highlights the artist and viewer’s acute awareness of the materiality of sculpture and exacerbates the strong physical and psychological presence of his work.
Curated by Sterling Allen.
Generous support for Into The Wild Meaning comes from the Ford Foundation and Center for Latin American Visual Studies (CLAVIS) with additional support by Ann L. Daughety.
Bio
Diego Bianchi was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1969, where he still lives and works. He studied graphic design at Buenos Aires University and was a recipient of the prestigious Guillermo Kuitca grant from 2003–2005, one of the few programs in Argentina that establish mentorships for young artists. In 2006, he was in residence at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Since 2009, Bianchi has been a lecturer for the ‘Anti-Project’ course at Di Tella University, in which he places art within the contingent confines of everyday reality to subvert any ingrained perceptions of art’s potential and meaning. His work has been shown in numerous exhibitions in Argentina, Spain, and the USA. Recently he participated in both the Lyon and Havana Biennales.
About the Curator
Sterling Allen received his BFA in Studio Art from The University of Texas at Austin in 2003. He is currently the co-director of the artist collective and exhibition space Okay Mountain, which he founded in 2006 with eight other Austin artists. As a solo artist and in collaboration with Okay Mountain, he has exhibited and organized numerous projects at venues throughout the United States and received several residencies, including the Artpace International Artist-In-Residence Program in San Antonio, Texas. He is currently pursuing an MFA in Sculpture at the Milton Avery Graduate School of Arts at Bard College.