Giuseppe Stampone
The Three Graces
March 4 – April 10, 2021
MLF l Marie-Laure Fleisch is pleased to announce Giuseppe Stampone’s new solo show, The Three Graces. With creations ranging from videos to multimedia installations, Stampone offers us a selection of his singular drawings made with Bic pens, which are at the heart of his practice. As precise and meticulous as he has always been, the obvious critique about current moments of our history have left room for more personal narratives.
From album covers reinterpretations to the incorporation of migrants in classical paintings, the artist communicates his activism by associating well-known contemporary images to subtle references from art history. Thus, the artist’s critical thinking finds a universal perspective, extricating itself from the communitarianism that tends to win ideologies these days.
In addition, Stampone always paid particular attention to the use of traditional techniques associated with art. The artist considers his exceptionally long creative process as a protest against the constant frenzy imposed by our century.
Made during COVID times, this newest body of works invites us to the quiet meditation motivated by the exclusive representation of architectural interiors, inspired by Dutch painters such as Vermeer and Pieter de Hooch. Houses are one of those few places where one can find refuge from the constant and mostly-confusing news feed.
Copyright: The Artist
Courtesy of the artist and MLF Marie Laure Fleisch gallery
Represented in almost all of the exhibited drawings, the artist often drawn from behind, with a contemplative posture. Indeed, like for the most of us, Stampone had to stay confined for the past year. This sudden and unwanted change in habits led the artist to completely call himself into questions, while in the process, turned him toward the great masters of art history, searching for his answers.
The exhibition takes its title from one of Stampone’s drawings but is also a tribute to the painting of Raphael. Inspired by the classical antiquity, the three women in the original work could represent stages of development of womanhood but they are often considered as muses, symbol of human creativity.
Stampone recreates the trio on an autobiographical perspective, representing himself in his childhood, his youth and nowadays, thus creating his own mythology. Perhaps these works are a proposition for us all to take a step back; to pause long enough in order to contemplate the field of possibilities and discover what we would like to see emerging from it, once this period of doubt will be behind us.
Copyright: The Artist
Courtesy of the artist and MLF Marie Laure Fleisch gallery
Giuseppe Stampone (1974, Cluj, France) lives and works in Italy. His solo exhibitions include: PERCHE’IL CIELO E’ DI TUTTI LA TERRA NO?, with Ugo La Pietra, curated by Italo Tomassoni, Giacinto Di Pietrantonio and Giancarlo Partenzi, Centro Italiano Arte Contemporanea – CIAC, Foligno, Italy (2018); Stampone – Banerjee and the third meaning, Italian Cultural Institute in New Delhi, New Delhi, India (2016); Ritratti – Bic Data Blue, curated by Giacinto di Pietrantonio, GAMeC – Galleria d’Arte Moderna Contemporanea di Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy (2014) and Saluti da L’Aquila da Giuseppe Stampone – Special Project, curated by Luca Massimo Barbero and Elena Forin, MACRO – Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma, Rome, Italy (2011). His group exhibitions include: Revolution Is Us, Second edition of the International Biennial of Contemporary Art “Autostrada Bienniale“, curated by Giacinto di Pietrantonio, The Archaeological Museum, Prizren, Kosovo (2019); La Collection BIC, curated by Hervé Mikaeloff and Ingrid Pux, Le CENTQUATRE, Paris, France (2018); The Raft. Art is (not) Lonely, Galerie Teniers, Ostend, Belgium (2017); Now here is Nowhere, Instituto Italiano di Cultura di New York, New York, United States (2017); El artista entre la individualidad y el contexto – Cuban Pavilion, 56th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy (2015); Nature, Limit or Liberty?, MAXXI – Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI Secolo, Rome, Italy (2014); Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2012, curated by Bose Krishnamachari, Fort Kochi PO, Kerala, India (2012);11th Havana Biennale, Havana, Cuba (2012); and Liverpool Biennial 2010, Liverpool, United Kingdom (2010).
Giuseppe Stampone Voluntary Quarantine, 2020 Ballpoint pen on wooden board 29,6 x 35,9 cm. Copyright: The Artist. Courtesy of the artist and MLF Marie Laure Fleisch gallery
Giuseppe Stampone Les Trois Grâces, 2020 Ballpoint pen on paper 29,7 x 21 cm. Copyright: The Artist. Courtesy of the artist and MLF Marie Laure Fleisch gallery
MLF | Marie-Laure Fleisch | Rue Saint-Georges, 13 | 1050 Bruxelles | t. +32 648 21 01 | brussels@galleriamlf.com | www.galleriamlf.com Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 6pm | Monday and Sunday by appointment | Press Office: press-brussels@galleriamlf.com
