Studio Visit | Naima Morelli

Shubigi Rao Studio Visit, Goodman Arts Centre, Singapore

07-04-2016

During my last visit to Singapore I had the chance to visit the studio of Shubigi Rao, an incredible artist who reminded me of a modern-day Hypatia. With interests ranging from archaeology, to philosophy, to neuroscience (the list goes on and on) her work breaks barriers and definitions, and is injected by a good amount of irony.

For more than ten years she had operated under the name of S.Raoul, her scientist, theorist and archaeologist alter-ego, a lover for everything obscure and academic.

In my interview with Shubigi we talked about her background and her move to the Lion City. She introduced me to her body of work and her method of research. I’m in the process of elaborating the interview for my Singapore book – in the meantime enjoy these pictures taken at her studio.

Robert Zhao Renhui Studio Visit, Goodman Arts Centre, Singapore

By: Naima Morelli

29-01-2016

English, Reportage, Research, Singapore, Visit

Welcome to another installment of my series on artist studio visits. This time we are peeking into the working space of Singapore artist Robert Zhao Renhui at Goodman Arts Centre. In the course of my reportage in Singapore I became familiar with this studio cluster, as many of the most prominent local artists are operating from here.

I find Robert’s studio pretty amazing. It is filled with the most strange objects and books related to science, biology and animals – included cushions shaped like kittens. If you are familiar with Robert Zhao artist practice, you will know he operates under the name of the fictional The Institute of Critical Zoologist. His work is all about developing a critical approach to the zoological gaze. This involves playing around with the believes of the viewer and acceptance of truths. Robert’s recent projects consider the increasingly ill-defined boundaries between the natural and the man-made.

Robert’s studio shows that zoology for the artist is not merely the subject of his work, but a real obsession. He demonstrates the theory of my friend curator Donato: “At the end of the day artist are people with single-minded obsession.”

Giada Tagliamonte Studio Visit, Joo Chiat, Singapore

By: Naima Morelli

10-01-2016

English, Italy, Research, Singapore, Visit

My series on studio visits is finally back! During my reportage in Singapore I had the chance to snoop around the working and sometimes also living space of local artists. First up is a wonderful Italian artist who now calls the Lion City home: Giada Tagliamonte aka Zada Tagli. Her work is delicate and poetic, and although she’s inspired by eminent figures of Italian culture, such as Giotto and Umberto Eco, the imaginary she evokes is really universal. You will soon read my interview to her, which I realized in November – but for now I’ll let the images speak for themselves.

Stefano Canto Studio Visit, Pigneto, Roma

By: Naima Morelli

30-09-2014

English, Italy, Visit

Walking into Stefano Canto’s studio feels like stepping on the moon. Tucked in a quiet area of Rome, Canto’s working space reflects his need for order and clarity.
The artist has a background in architecture and that comes off pretty clearly from many elements of his work, such as the relationship between solids and voids, the use of modular elements and the choice of materials to work with. In sculptures/installations like “Caedo (Opus Caementitium)” he creates evocative shapes by filling the bug-damaged interior of a tree with concrete.
As often happens in contemporary art, there are many ways to look at “Caedo (Opus Caementitium)” – for some absence becomes presence. For others the work is a comment on the damages of urbanisation – the pathogens attacking the tree trunk are indeed caused by smog and other similar substances. You can even look at these works as simple evocative shapes, reminiscent of the black obelisk-shaped object that Led Zeppelin featured on the cover of their seventh album ‘Presence’ (that’s actually my own take and when I told Stefano he looked at me like “what the hell are you talking about?) Well, my point is that there are so many layers to each work that you can fill a book – Stefano actually has an upcoming book with a few curatorial texts, so keep an eye on this guy -this is a studio visit though, so I’ll let the picture do the talk…

Angki Purbandono Studio Visit, Yogyakarta

By: Naima Morelli

09-09-2014

English, Indonesia, Reportage, Research, Visit

In 2012 I interviewed artist Angki Purbandono for my reportage about contemporary art in Indonesia for Art a Part of Cult(ure). That time I had the chance to snap some pictures around his studio/house filled with the weirdest objects. That was not surprising, considering that Angki is well know for his scannographies, namely giant scans of everyday objects unusually associated, defamiliarized by the size and the black background. Even if his photographs look as if they would have been taken with a complex set of lights, Angki revealed me that his only tool was a normal scanner – which of course, I didn’t fail to photograph. As for Angki himself, you could guess his personality from his body language and shirt. He is a great chap!

Dario Carratta Studio Visit, Conca d’Oro, Rome

By: Naima Morelli

26-05-2014

English, Italy, Visit

After visiting Dario Carratta’s pen-drawings exhibition at Galleria 291est in Rome, I was totally curious to see his paintings. On the way to his studio in Conca D’Oro, a north-east suburb of Rome, I was wondering where his twisted world of dingy nightclubs, pulped faces and blue hair in the wind came from. I won’t say I was expecting to find corpses and carnivorous plants in Dario’s studio, but I was actually pretty surprised to hear that the artists was so sensitive to bad vibes he wouldn’t even see the news. He explained me that art for him was an outlet to negative emotions that would otherwise overwhelm him. That’s why he needed to paint every day and he couldn’t picture himself not doing it.
The paintings in flesh looked much more violent and rougher than what I could observe from the photos, but for this very reason even more exciting and fascinating.

Luigi Ontani Studio Visit, Piazza del Popolo, Rome

By: Naima Morelli

04-03-2014

English, Indonesia, Interview, Italy, Reportage, Visit

2pic
Three years ago Isabella Tirelli, artist and professor at the Art Academy in Rome started a video project called “Dialogo con l’artista”.
The project was based on collective interviews to artists in their studio and was realized under the direction of videomaker Leonardo Settimelli.
Tirelli gathered students and ex students from the Art Academy – I fell into the latter category – and we visited the studios of the most amazing artists in Rome.
The most notable visit for me was certainly the one to Luigi Ontani’s studio in Piazza Popolo.
I wrote about Luigi Ontani work before (for this blog, Artribune and I-Magazine Bali) and I obviously love his art. Who doesn’t afterall?
Once I was in Naples and, going down the Museo Madre’s stairs, I saw Ontani around the corner. I was wearing his typical blue silk suit and there were two guys literally throwing at his feet whispering:”Maestro… maestro…”. Even if Ontani’s physical presence is enough inspire devotion among many, the artist himself is much more down-to-earth than his public persona.

Alessandro Cannistrà Studio Visit, San Lorenzo, Rome + Preview Exhibition

By: Naima Morelli

22-02-2014

English, Italy, News, Visit

studio1

I recently visited the studio of artist Alessandro Cannistrà in San Lorenzo.
It consisted in a white, neat room, pretty bare, except for some books, stucked in an arch in the wall over the door, and a black sofa with some black hats on it.
“This is an original gaucho hat.” he said grabbing a wide-brimmed leather hat on top of the stack “I bought it in Argentina, during my artist residency in Buenos Aires”.
Alessandro has travelled quite a bit lately and he recently relocated in Rome. His work keep on travelling internationally through exhibition and fairs, that’s why his studio was almost empty at the moment.
My attention was attracted by some 3D reconstructions that were pinpointed on the wall.
“Is that what are you working on at the moment?” I asked
Alessandro explained me that he was working on these pyramids for his new solo exhibition at Toselli Gallery, in Milan, curated by Luca Tomìo. The title was “Oggetto di Pensiero”, namely “Object of thinking”, and will open on March 28.

Alasdair McLuckie Studio Visit, Fitzroy, Melbourne

By: Naima Morelli

07-06-2013

Australia, English, Reportage, Research, Visit

During my researche on the contemporary art scene in Melbourne, I had the chance to visit the studio of the artist Alasdair McLuckie at Gertrude Contemporary, in Fitzroy.
The artist moved in recently, in January, and he is very happy to have plenty of space to work.
Alasdair’s first inspiration is primitive art and cultures, an interest that he had inherited from his father. Recently he has re-discovered modernism, that had itself a very close relation with tribal art.
Looking Alasdair’s beads works, you can tell that he is very concerned with the formal aspect of art, and his artworks are accurates in every detail.
There is also storyteller aspect in his work. Some of his collages, prints and drawings are infact collected in notebooks made to be browsed.
Coming into the studio, you can see the artist’s favourite palette everywhere: deep blue, orange, saffron yellow, pink, pale violet, grey, black and mustard green.
The interview is coming soon, in the meantime here you are some pictures from my studio visit.

Peter Dailey Studio Visit, Woodbridge, Perth

By: Naima Morelli

29-05-2013

Australia, English, Research, Visit

I just come back to Melbourne after two weeks in Perth. I was there for a reportage on the Perth contemporary art scene.
Through the Turner Galleries I came in contact with the artist Peter Daily, an established and very generous artist who has his studio in Woodbridge.
I meet him at a floor talk for his exhibition at the Fremantle Art Centre and he gives me many precious information about the artistic situation in Western Australia and about his highly imaginative work.

Visiting his studio I notice how much importance Peter gave to the materials in his works. He seem to experiment new techniques all the time, daring to use also unexpected and unorthodox material with great results.
The interview I had with him will be out soon, in the meantime here you are the pictures I took from my visit to the artist’s studio.

Mark Hilton Studio Visit, Abbotsford, Melbourne

By: Naima Morelli

14-05-2013

Australia, English, Reportage, Visit

I recently visited the studio of the Australian artist Mark Hilton in Melbourne.
He just moved from his old studio in Fitzroy to a new one in Abbotsford, so unfortunately he did’t have many past works to show me.
Anyways the one he was currently working on was complex enough to monopolize my attention.

The project is a continuation of “Hunting Where The Ducks Are”, a series of high reliefs depicting the darkest issues of contemporary society.
Every piece was shaped like a letter. In the end they will form the sentence:”Don’t Worry”.
In this work there is a striking contrast between appearance and truth, something in which Mark has always been interested.
Some of the scenes represented on the high reliefs are inspired to current affairs, like often happen in the previous production of the artist, other ones are drawn from the artist’s personal memories. There is no narrative connection between the pieces, although we can find a train as recurrent element.

The aesthetic look of the artwork is inspired by the decoration of the doors of the Duomo in Milan, where the artists had a residency in 2007.

Naima Morelli

Shubigi Rao Studio Visit, Goodman Arts Centre, Singapore

Robert Zhao Renhui Studio Visit, Goodman Arts Centre, Singapore

Giada Tagliamonte Studio Visit, Joo Chiat, Singapore

Stefano Canto Studio Visit, Pigneto, Roma

Angki Purbandono Studio Visit, Yogyakarta

Dario Carratta Studio Visit, Conca d’Oro, Rome

Luigi Ontani Studio Visit, Piazza del Popolo, Rome

Alessandro Cannistrà Studio Visit, San Lorenzo, Rome + Preview Exhibition

Alasdair McLuckie Studio Visit, Fitzroy, Melbourne

Peter Dailey Studio Visit, Woodbridge, Perth

Mark Hilton Studio Visit, Abbotsford, Melbourne

About

MY BOOKS

Categories

Archives